Centre asks Andhra Pradesh if it wants Amaravati as capital or has other ideas

New Delhi: Different statements from Andhra Pradesh ministers have fuelled uncertainty on the fate of Amaravati as the state's capital, the BJP said on Wednesday and asked the government of the southern state to make its position clear on the matter.

At a press conference here, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao also asked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy to "take forward" the accusations against the previous state government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu over the way thousands of acres of land were acquired, involving "insider trading", for building the capital city.

Rao said the Reddy government should make it clear whether it planned to go ahead with Amaravati as the state's capital or had any alternative plan. After Reddy took over as the chief minister, it seemed from his statements that his government would not have Amaravati as the capital, but different statements from his ministers had created confusion and uncertainty, the BJP leader said.

There was a lack of coherence in the Andhra Pradesh government over the issue, he said, asserting that it was for the ruling dispensation in the southern state and not the Centre to take a call on the matter. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 2,500 crore for the project and an amount of Rs 1,500 crore had already been released, Rao said.