Why only Delhi? The debate around capitals, gains

दिल्ली के मुख्यमंत्री श्री @ArvindKejriwal जी को दूसरे राज्यों का मजाक उड़ाने की आदत हो गई है।

मेरा मानना है कि हमें देश के विभिन्न जोन की आर्थिक असमानता को दूर करने पर काम करना चाहिए।

क्या हम संतुलित विकास के लिए भारत की 5 राजधानियों पर विचार कर सकते हैं, हरेक जोन में एक?

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— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 29, 2022

The debate over whether a big and diverse country like India should have more than one capital is not a new one. During the Mughal rule, India had Delhi and Srinagar as capitals, while the British too initially had Calcutta as their summer capital and Shimla as the winter capital. In 1911, the British moved the capital from Calcutta to Delhi, and it was formally inaugurated as one in 1931.

B R Ambedkar: Hyderabad as 2nd Capital

In his 1955 book ‘Thoughts on Linguistic States’, B R Ambedkar addressed the issue at length. Chapter XI of the book titled ‘India and the necessity of a second capital, a way to remove tension between the north and the south’ discussed the merits, demerits and challenges of having Delhi as the only capital of the country. The “feeling of the southern people” and “consideration of defense” were among the reasons he gave for thinking of another capital.

“The feeling of the Southern people is that the Capital of their Country is far away from them and that they are being ruled by the people of Northern India,” he wrote, adding: “Delhi is a vulnerable place. It is within bombing distance of the neighbouring countries. Although India is trying to live in peace with its neighbours, it cannot be assumed that India will not have to face war sometime or other, and if war comes, the Government of India will have to leave Delhi and find another place for its location. Which is the place to which the Government of India can migrate?”

Ambedkar, who as chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution led the writing of the statute, suggested Hyderabad as a possible option. “Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Bolarum should be constituted into a Chief Commissioner’s Province and made a second capital of India. Hyderabad fulfils all the requirements of a capital for India.”

Hyderabad was equidistant to all states, he noted. “Fortunately, it can be very easily done with satisfaction to the whole of South India, to Maharashtra and to the Andhras. This is another remedy for easing the tension between the North and the South.”

Mamata Banerjee: 4, one in each corner

On January 23, 2021, speaking at a rally on Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday, the West Bengal CM questioned why India should have only one capital, in Delhi. “I believe that India must have four rotating capitals. Why should Delhi decide all things? We should have four different capitals at the four corners of the country. And Parliament sessions should be held in different places in the country.”

She went on to say that Kolkata should be declared the “National Capital of Bengal” because it was the national capital under the British.

Former Karnataka industries minister R V Deshpande: Bengaluru best

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018, then Karnataka Industries Minister Deshpande requested that Bengaluru be granted the status of “the second capital of India”.

“India needs a second capital very urgently and Bengaluru is the best place to fulfill that role. A country the size and scale of India cannot be managed from one location, especially when the government is gearing up for a paradigmatic and radical change in terms of depth of governance, structural reforms, national reconstruction and international partnerships,” he said.

Former Nagpur MP Villas Muttemvar: Nagpur is central, safe

In April 2013, Muttemvar suggested Nagpur as the second capital of the country. Speaking during a Lok Sabha debate, he said: “The problems of Delhi include a wide spectrum of socio-economic, political and physical problems. The severity of the problems are the declining environmental quality and inadequate urban infrastructural facilities including electricity, water, roads, transport, housing etc. The population of Delhi has shown tremendous growth during the past few years and has posed enough problems for city planning and governance.”

Making a similar case previously on July 22, 2009, in the Lok Sabha, Muttemvar had said: “Considering the centrality and safety of the place, the then Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru shifted all the four defence production factories to Nagpur after the Chinese invasion. Therefore, there is no denying the fact that Nagpur is the only city in the country which can vouch safe as the second capital of the country. Number of offices of Government and Public Sector Undertakings can easily be shifted from Delhi to Nagpur. This will not only release the pressure on Delhi but also homogeneously create a well-developed place for naming the second Capital of India viz. Nagpur.”

Several countries have more than one capital or one or more administrative, power centres – including South Africa (Cape Town, Pretoria and Bloemfontein), Bolivia (La Paz and Sucre), Chile (Santiago and Valparaiso), Czech Republic (Prague and Brno) and the Netherlands (Amsterdam and The Hague).