What is the 'three capitals law' revoked by the Andhra Pradesh government

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday decided to revoke the contentious ‘three capitals law’

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday (November 22, 2021) passed a bill to revoke the contentious ‘three capitals law’ that triggered outrage among farmers in Amravati.

The controversial Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act, which was passed by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government last year with an aim to establish three capitals for the state of Andhra Pradesh, faced severe backlash from the opposition and legal complications from the High Court as well.

As the government announced the repeal of the legislation, here is what the Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act all about.

What is the Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act?

The AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020 was an act passed by the ruling Jagan Mohan Reddy government last year with an aim to decentralise state governance by establishing three different capitals for each wing of the governance namely- Legislative, Executive and Judiciary.

To put this in simple terms, the government wanted to come with separate legislative, executive and judicial capitals of Andhra Pradesh in Vishakapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool respectively.

What was the controversy around the three capitals law bill?

Soon after the bill was passed, farmers in Amravati started vehemently opposing the bill.

The act was later challenged in the High Court by farmers who urged the court against the shifting of the Raj Bhawan, Chief Minister’s Office and state secretariat from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam and the high court to Kurnool.

The protest was mainly from the farmers who had parted with their fertile agricultural lands for the development of Amravati.