Even as the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh, headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, is expediting works on the capital city of Amaravati and is hoping to complete the majority of the components in the next three years, the legal hurdle continues to haunt the farmers who had surrendered land for the development of the new capital city.
The farmers have been demanding statutory status for the capital city, which is only possible if the Central government passes legislation in Parliament that formally recognises Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
“We are making every effort to get a bill, providing legal sanctity to Amaravati as the permanent capital, passed by the Parliament,” the Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications and the Telugu Desam Party MP from Guntur P Chandra Sekhar, said.
Speaking to the media at a meeting organised on Saturday by the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (AP-CRDA) on issues being faced by farmers, he said that the proposal was now under consideration of the Union Home Ministry.
He said the state government fully appreciates the need to recognise Amaravati as the permanent capital.
“Chief Minister (Chandrababu Naidu) had discussed the matter with Home Minister Amit Shah, and we are waiting for the bill to get Parliament’s approval in the upcoming session,” he said.
Amaravati, the dream project of Chandrababu Naidu, was caught in a legal quagmire for years. The previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government proposed three capital cities—Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital—in the name of decentralisation and had even brought in the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020.
However, it was declared illegal by the High Court. This verdict was challenged by the then government in the Supreme Court. Following the change of guard last year, the Naidu government filed an affidavit in the apex court, asserting that Amaravati would be the permanent capital and that it was committed to developing the city within three years.
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