New Delhi | The government is likely to introduce a bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday to recognise Amravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh, fulfilling a vital aspiration of key NDA ally TDP and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The legislation will scuttle any future bid to alter the decision of making Amravati the sole and permanent capital as was done by the state's previous government, led by YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
On March 28, the state legislative assembly also passed a resolution requesting the Centre for amendment of Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act to incorporate the name of "Amaravati" as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
As the first chief minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh between 2014 and 2019, TDP supremo Naidu had announced that Amaravati would be the capital of the state and invested extensively in its development.
However, the TDP lost power in the 2019 assembly elections and Reddy assumed charge as the chief minister.
During his tenure, Reddy altered Naidu's decision and announced that Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals - administrative capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and judicial capital at Kurnool -- instead of a single capital city at Amaravati.
After Naidu returned to power in 2024, he announced that Amaravati would be the sole capital of the state.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, under which Telangana was created, recognises Hyderabad as the capital of the new state, but there was no mention as to where the capital of Andhra Pradesh would come up.
The proposed Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill by the NDA government would cement Amaravati's stature as the sole capital.
The TDP is a key ally of the ruling NDA and extends vital support to the Narendra Modi government with its 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
According to the Bill circulated among Lok Sabha members, the provisions of the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act provide that on and from the appointed day, Hyderabad will be the common capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period not exceeding ten years.
After which, Hyderabad will be the capital of Telangana, and there will be a new capital for the successor state of Andhra Pradesh.
After the reorganisation law came into being, the Andhra Pradesh government, "after due consideration, consultation, and planning, identified and notified "Amaravati" as the new capital of that state, the bill noted.
Once the bill becomes an Act, Amravati will be legally recognised as the capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.
It said significant administrative and legislative measures have been undertaken, besides the infrastructural developments in and around Amaravati, with the objective of establishing it as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
It observed that on March 28, the state legislative assembly passed a resolution requesting the Centre to amend Section 5 of the Reorganisation Act to incorporate the name of "Amaravati" as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
To give effect to the resolution of the state legislative assembly, and to provide "statutory clarity regarding the capital" of AP, the bill proposes to amend sub-section (2) of section 5 of the reorganisation law to incorporate the name of "Amaravati" as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.
