During its last five years in power, the YSR Congress Party, led by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, abandoned Amaravati as the state's sole capital city and advocated for the establishment of three capital cities.
Jagan was particularly eager to make Visakhapatnam the administrative capital, which he envisioned as his dream capital city.
He built a large mansion on Rushikonda Hills, and his party leaders acquired significant properties in the port city.
However, his plans were disrupted by the YSRCP's humiliating defeat in the recent assembly elections and the return to power of Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu, who won with a massive mandate, along with his alliance partners.
Upon assuming office, Naidu declared Amaravati the only capital city and committed to reviving the previous plan to develop it into a world-class capital.
The central government supported this initiative by announcing a substantial financial assistance package of Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati's development.
Jagan and his party leaders appear to have accepted that the plan for three capital cities cannot be revived, given the central government and Naidu's administration's focus on developing Amaravati.
On Monday, for the first time, the YSRCP indirectly acknowledged Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.
During a Lok Sabha session, YSRCP MP from Rajampet, Peddireddy Mithun Reddy, made a significant demand to the Centre regarding Amaravati.
Participating in the budget discussion, Mithun Reddy called for the Centre to provide Rs 15,000 crore for the development of Amaravati as a full-fledged grant, rather than a soft loan from the World Bank as mentioned by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
"Since Amaravati is going to be developed as the capital city, the Centre should provide generous financial assistance in the form of grants," Mithun Reddy demanded.