In a big boost to the YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh headed by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Centre on Tuesday clarified that the state had every right to have its capital anywhere it wanted.
In a written reply to a question asked by Telugu Desam Party MP from Guntur Galla Jayadev in Lok Sabha, Union minister of state for home affair Nityanand Rai said it was for each state to decide its capital within its territory.
Jayadev sought to know whether the Centre had taken note of the recent decision taken by Andhra Pradesh chief minister to set up three capitals for the state and how the Centre would react to the same.
He also asked the Centre whether the manner in which the said move was taken is likely to help the state and the people.
The MP wanted to know whether the Centre would advise the state government not to resort to such decisions, which would not only vitiate the investment climate but also be a great loss to thousands of farmers who had given their land for construction of new capital Amaravati.
In his reply, the minister said the state government had notified Amaravati as its capital city through a government order dated April 23, 2015.
“Recently, media reports have appeared indicating the State Government's decision to create three capitals for the State of Andhra Pradesh. It is for each State to decide its capital within its territory,” the minister replied.
The Centre’s reply has clarified two things: one, the state government had not consulted the Centre before taking a decision on three capitals as the latter came to know about it only through media reports;
Second, the Centre has absolutely no interest in intervening in the capitals issue, since it is purely a state subject and every state has its right to have its capital wherever it wants.
By giving the reply, the minister has dampened the spirits of the TDP leaders who are trying to drag the Centre into the issue through leaders like Pawan Kalyan and Sujana Chowdary!