New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has said that he would start operating from Visakhapatnam in September this year.
The chief minister’s office is now currently located in Tadepalle in Guntur district, which is part of Amaravati. Amaravati was named the sole capital city of truncated Andhra Pradesh by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government. However, Reddy’s government has announced that the state will have three capitals: the executive capital in Visakhapatnam, the legislative capital in Amaravati, and the judicial capital in Kurnool.
This is for the first time Reddy has publicly announced the timeline for shifting his office to Visakhapatnam. “As part of decentralisating the administration, your son (Jagan) will set up his family (kapuram) also in Visakhapatnam in September,” South First quoted Jagan as saying at a public meeting held in Srikakulam district on Wednesday, April 19.
The chief minister’s office also put out a tweet indicating the same.
రాష్ట్రంలో అతిపెద్ద నగరం మాత్రమే కాకుండా, రాష్ట్రంలో అందరికీ ఆమోదయోగ్యమైన నగరం విశాఖపట్నం. పరిపాలన వికేంద్రీకరణలో భాగంగా ఈ సెప్టెంబరు నుంచి మీ బిడ్డ కాపురం కూడా విశాఖలోనే పెడతాడు: సీఎం pic.twitter.com/SmXUDB0AgM
— CMO Andhra Pradesh (@AndhraPradeshCM) April 19, 2023
Earlier this year, in January, he had indicated that he would start operating from Visakapatnam “soon” whilst speaking at the International Diplomats Alliance Meet in New Delhi. “Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam, which is going to be our capital in the days to come. I would be shifting over to Visakhapatnam in the months to come as well,” he had said.
Reddy made the latest announcement during a public meeting at Naupada village in the Srikakulam district’s Sonthabommali Mandal. The chief minister chose to make such an announcement in Srikakulam because the district is closer to Visakhapatnam than the previous sole capital of Amaravati. Both Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam are part of the North Andhra region, which is considered more backward than the rest of the state. However, the port city of Visakhapatnam is the largest city in Andhra Pradesh.
The decision of the Reddy government to have three capitals has come under fierce criticism from opposition parties as well as from the people of Central Andhra Pradesh, where Amaravati is located. The plan has been challenged in the courts by several individuals and organisations in the state. Currently, the three-capital plan is under Supreme Court’s consideration.