In a decisive move to prevent any future shift of Andhra Pradesh’s capital from Amaravati, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to introduce a Bill in Parliament granting statutory protection to the greenfield capital city.
Naidu, who met Shah in New Delhi on January 7, requested an amendment to the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act, 2014, to formally and permanently recognise Amaravati as the state’s capital. The proposed amendment is expected to be taken up in an upcoming session of Parliament. Sources said the Home Minister responded positively to the request.
The move comes as Andhra Pradesh approaches two years under the TDP-led government by mid-2026, with Amaravati’s future emerging as a key test of Naidu’s political vision. If enacted, the amendment would cement Amaravati’s status beyond policy reversals by future governments; failure to do so could reopen debates over decentralisation and regional equity.
Naidu’s push gains weight from the TDP’s support to the BJP-led NDA at the Centre. The Chief Minister has been seeking statutory backing, particularly in light of the Amaravati project being stalled during the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) regime between 2019 and 2024.
Amaravati was first envisioned as Andhra Pradesh’s capital during Naidu’s earlier tenure (2014–2019) as a world-class smart city, spread across nearly 30,000 acres of land pooled from local farmers. However, the project came to a halt after the YSRCP came to power in 2019 and proposed a “three-capitals” model, with Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, Amaravati as the legislative capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital.
The proposal triggered sustained protests by more than 29,000 farmers, lasting 1,631 days from 2019 to 2024, until Naidu’s return to power brought the agitation to an end. In 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled in favour of Amaravati as the sole capital, though political and legal uncertainties continued until the TDP–Jana Sena–BJP alliance secured a landslide victory in the June 2024 elections.
Under the Reorganisation Act, Hyderabad was designated as the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh until 2024. Naidu is now seeking to retroactively recognise Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s capital from June 2, 2024—the date on which the common capital arrangement expired—thereby ensuring permanence and shielding the city from future policy shifts.
Soon after assuming office, the TDP-led government filed an affidavit in the Andhra Pradesh High Court reaffirming Amaravati as the capital, effectively scrapping the three-capitals model. The government also prioritised reviving stalled projects, allocating fresh funds for roads, bridges and government buildings. Key developments include the opening of the 1.5-km Seed Access Road and ongoing work on the Amaravati Seed Capital Road (E3), aimed at improving connectivity with Vijayawada.
Naidu has intensified engagements with the Centre since August 2024, holding meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to seek Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati’s development and resolution of pending Reorganisation Act issues. By May 2025, he had directly urged Shah to amend the Act, while also pitching aerospace and electronics manufacturing projects in regions such as Lepakshi-Orvakal. Further discussions in October 2024 and November 2025 reportedly advanced the proposal, with the Home Ministry approving a draft amendment under legal review.
Political observers see Naidu’s latest appeal as a strategic attempt to insulate Amaravati from Andhra Pradesh’s volatile political history. Granting statutory status would make it difficult for any future government to dismantle the capital without parliamentary approval, potentially neutralising the YSRCP’s three-capitals narrative, particularly in North Andhra, where Visakhapatnam’s aspirations persist.
While the move is expected to strengthen the TDP’s base in the Krishna–Guntur region, it could also revive concerns in coastal districts that favour decentralised development. Economically, statutory backing for Amaravati may help unlock international funding and accelerate Andhra Pradesh’s growth ambitions, but failure to secure the amendment could expose the government to criticism of overdependence on the Centre.
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