The Lok Sabha on Wednesday, April 1, passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, declaring Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh. The Bill was cleared by a voice vote. While most parties, including the Congress, supported it, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) staged a walkout, demanding that a timeline for fulfilling promises made to farmers who contributed land for Amaravati be included in the legislation.
“We support this Bill and affirm Amaravati as its capital. A state cannot progress without certainty. A governance cannot function without a fixed centre. Investment cannot flow without clarity,” Congress MP Manickam Tagore said, adding that the BJP has failed to fulfill its obligations to give funding to the project. “Where is the industrial push, where are the tax incentives? Instead we see delay, delusion and neglect,” he said.
The passage of the Bill comes against the backdrop of a prolonged political dispute over the state capital. After coming to power in 2019, the YSRCP government had halted the development of Amaravati, which was initiated during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime following the state’s bifurcation in 2014.
In a controversial move, the previous YSRCP government had instead proposed a decentralised governance model with three capitals — Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital. This decision was strongly opposed by the farmers who had pooled their fertile land for the construction of the capital.
Speaking in the Parliament, YSRCP MP PV Midhun Reddy said the party would have welcomed the Bill if similar importance had been given to the Polavaram irrigation project and the demand for Special Category Status for the state.
Defending the YSRCP government, the Rajampet MP reminded the House that the Union government had earlier maintained that deciding the state capital was the prerogative of the state.
“We have our concerns regarding this Bill. We want them to be addressed. Amaravati is being built on the lands of farmers. 34,000 acres of land has been given by the farmers under the land pooling scheme. They have not a single rupee or any benefit. They were promised completely developed plots within two years, free education for their children, housing scheme and various other promises. However, the present government which has been in power for the past seven years, not one plot was given,” he said.
Midhun Reddy further alleged that not a single developed plot had been handed over to farmers and that such claims existed only on paper.
“They are bothered about the farmers of the state. We demand to give a specific date when the plots will be handed over to the farmers. We want this to be incorporated in the Bill.” The Bill would be meaningless if the timeline is not fixed, he added.
He also questioned the extent of land required for building Amaravati. While 34,000 acres have been pooled from farmers and another 20,000 acres of government land acquired, a second phase of land pooling to acquire up to 1.75 lakh acres has been proposed. The Rajampet MP questioned the rationale behind the expansion, citing the example of Kolkata, which was built on around 51,000 acres.
“We want clarity in this Bill. How much land are going to acquire for this Amaravati? And when are you going to build the city? Are you going to build a city bigger than Kolkata?” he asked. Is the government going to pump all the money into this project, the YSRCP MP questioned and asked the Speaker to incorporate all these details in the Bill.