Visakhapatnam Will be New Capital of Andhra Pradesh: CM Jagan Mohan Reddy

New Andhra Pradesh Capital: Visakhapatnam will be Andhra Pradesh's new capital. This was announced by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday announced that the coastal city of Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of the state. CM Jagan made the announcement while speaking at the International Diplomatic Alliance Meet in New Delhi. "I am here to invite you to Visakhapatnam, which will be our capital. I will also be shifting to Vizag," the CM said. CM Jagan Mohan Reddy also said, "I invite you and your colleagues to see for yourself how easy it is to do business in Andhra Pradesh."

#WATCH | "Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam which will be our capital in the days to come. I will also be shifting to Visakhapatnam in the months to come": Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at International Diplomatic Alliance meet in Delhi pic.twitter.com/wANqgXC1yP

— ANI (@ANI) January 31, 2023

It may be recalled that after Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Hyderabad was made the capital of the newly carved state. The N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP government acquired over 33,000 acres of land from farmers to develop Amaravati as the capital of the state in 2015.

After Jagan Mohan Reddy took over in 2019, the state government floated the idea of having three capitals -Visakhapatnam-Executive Capital, Amaravati-Legislative capital and Kurnool-Judicial capital and passed legislation in this regard. However, Amaravati was soon also at the center of an alleged land scam and Jagan Reddy's party YSRCP demanded a probe against the previous chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.

The Jagan Mohan Reddy government in November last year passed a Bill in the Assembly, repealing the controversial AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which was intended to establish three capitals for the state. 

Without putting any timeframe, Jagan then told the Assembly that the government would come out with a "comprehensive, complete and better" bill after plugging loopholes in the previous version.

In March last year, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled against the three capitals and directed the government to develop Amaravati as the state capital as envisaged.
The Court also in its verdict on March 3, 2022, said the state Legislature lacked the competence to make any legislation for shifting, bifurcating or trifurcating the capital. 
The High Court also set a timeline for the development of Amaravati.

The Jagan Reddy government filed a petition in the Supreme Court and challenged the High Court order.

(With Agency Inputs)