Andhra Pradesh government's advisor on public affairs and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Wednesday, February 15, clarified that the government remained committed to its policy of three state capitals. He claimed that the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) was creating confusion among people over the state capital. The statement came after Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said that the idea of three capitals was a “miscommunication”.
Sajjala claimed that Buggana only reiterated the government's stand but "the TDP's friendly media” distorted his statement. At a roadshow held in Bengaluru on Tuesday to attract investors to the Global Investors Summit to be held in Vizag in March, Buggana said that the concept of three capitals was “some sort of miscommunication.” He told investors that Vizag is best suited to be the state capital, and administration will be done from there.
Buggana also said that Kurnool is “not the capital per se,” but the principal bench of the High Court would be set up there. He further stated that it was the government's decision to hold Assembly sessions in the Guntur district. However, a day after the Finance Minister's statement, Sajjala said that the YSRCP government headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is committed to the development of all regions of the state.
Ramakrishna Reddy told reporters at the state Secretariat that the government has already declared that Visakhapatnam will be the administrative capital while Amaravati will be the legislative capital and Kurnool will be developed as the judicial capital. "We remain committed to our policy of decentralisation of governance," he said and alleged that the opposition TDP and its "friendly media" were creating confusion among people.
"Not a bench but the entire High Court will come up in Kurnool," he said when asked about the Finance Minister's statement. "I don't know in which context he made the statement," he remarked. Claiming that some elements were spreading misinformation for real estate gains, the government advisor called on people not to get misled by false propaganda. Sajjala said that the YSRCP government would not do politics over state capitals for elections. "We don't say one thing during the election and another thing after elections," he said.