Hyderabad: Telugu Desam supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister-designate N. Chandrababu Naidu and Union minister for urban development M. Venkaiah Naidu have dropped enough hints on the location of new capital city of residuary AP.
Mr Chandrababu Naidu, for instance, told the Krishna and Guntur district TD leaders that the new capital city will come up between Vijayawada and Guntur. When asked about its exact location by party leaders, Mr Chandrababu Naidu refused to disclose it, as it might lead to a few rich people buying lands there, thereby creating a problem for the government in future. The TD chief is going to take oath as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at the same location.
Since the outcome of Assembly election results, Mr Chandrababu Naidu is giving importance to the area between Vijayawada and Guntur. He has decided to work from Nagarjuna University as a Chief Minister and arrangements are being made there.
On the other hand, Mr Venkaiah Naidu said that Vijayawada and Guntur cities will be developed as twin cities on the lines of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The Sivarama Krishnan committee, constituted by the Union government to study the various options to set up capital for residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, has visited many places in Seemandhra. The committee will submit its report by August 31. The committee, however, is not empowered to finalise the location of the new capital. It’s the state government that will have a final say on it.
Speculations are also rife that the new capital would be between Ongole and Eluru. Had the Congress come to power, either in Seemandhra or at the Centre, things might have been different.
Quite surprisingly, caste is also playing a determining factor in deciding the capital city’s geographical location.
While the Congress leaders would have opted for a place between Ongole and Eluru, an area dominated by Reddy community, the victorious TD in Seemandhra is seeing its Kamma leaders lobbying for a place between Vijayawada and Guntur, which is dominated by Kammas.
Whatever the equations, Mr Chandrababu Naidu prefers it between Vijayawada and Guntur, as it would be centrally located. Besides, Vijayawada and Guntur cities are already well developed.
Meanwhile, some political leaders are urging Mr Chandrababu Naidu to name Amaravathi or Kondaveedu as the new capital. According to sources, Narasraopet Telugu Desam MP Rayapati Samba Siva Rao asked Mr Chandrababu Naidu to name Amaravathi as the capital. Interestingly, Rayapati’s native village is near Amaravathi.
