With the crucial bills related to formation of three capitals for Andhra Pradesh being referred to the select committee of the state legislative council, the plan of shifting the administrative capital to Visakhapatnam has been halted, albeit for the time being.
But the YSR Congress party government led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy seems to have decided to do away with anything that is related to Amaravati that would indicate it as the capital city.
The government is of the firm stand that Amaravati will not remain the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh at any cost.
That could be the reason why the state government authorities in New Delhi removed Amaravati icon in New Delhi.
The TDP government in the past has constructed the icon “I love Amaravati” at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi to promote the capital city on the lines of “I love Hyderabad” of Telangana government, “I love Bengaluru” of Karnataka government etc.
Telugu people who come to Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi take selfies standing in front of this structure, as they do in Hyderabad and elsewhere.
But on Sunday, the AP government authorities quietly removed the “I love Amaravati” icon at AP Bhavan.
When the people who came to the place for Sunday lunch could not find it and made enquiries about the same, the authorities told them that they had to remove it on the instructions of higher-ups.
So, it is clear that the Jagan government has decided against continuing anything that reminds the people of the previous TDP government.
May be, it will soon erect “I love Visakhapatnam” icon in AP Bhavan shortly!