The feedback from the ground is people are not taking the 3-capitals announcement seriously. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy does not seem to even want Assembly in Amaravati now. Since announcing Vizag as the sole capital of the state will trigger opposition from people as well as cause legal troubles, Jagan has come out with the narrative of decentralization, equal development and three capitals. Farmers assume that once Vizag is made executive capital and infrastructure is developed there, he wants to shift Assembly as well to the port city thus relegating Amaravati into oblivion forever.
Turning Amaravati into a slum
Amaravati is spread in Tadikonda and Mangalagiri Assembly constituencies. The proposal to shift capital has hit the YSRCP hard in the region. Realising that it can’t even win a single panchayat out of 29 villages in Amaravati region, the government merged them into Amaravati Metropolitan Development Authority which means there will be no elections in these villages. If 50,000 families from nearby cities of Vijayawada, Guntur, Mangalagiri and Tenali are shifted to the region by allotting house sites there, the party will have a vote bank in these villages. As per this strategy, land is being distributed to 50,000 poor families in Tadikonda and Mangalagiri constituencies. The High Court, and later Supreme Court, stayed the process of land allotment on the plea of farmers.
Towards single capital
No state in the country has three capitals. A city can’t be called a capital if it has just the High Court. Nine high courts in the country are not located in state capitals. The people of Kurnool were not taken in by ‘Judicial capital’ tag, demanding instead, a full-fledged capital. Now a campaign is on to strip Amaravati of its ‘Legislative capital’ tag too.
Nani’s comments hint at an attempt to prepare people psychologically for shifting Assembly too from Amaravati. Sources say Jagan does not want to have anything with Amaravati. Kodali Nani is being used to set the stage for removal of the Assembly from Amaravati. It is unlikely that Nani will be alone or the last person to make such ‘suggestions’ or ‘demands’. Some more ministers and leaders will join the chorus soon. It may be followed by setting up of a Cabinet sub-committee to “examine” this suggestion. And finally, the government might announce its decision of ‘One state and one-capital Vizag’.
