YSRCP leaders strike divergent notes, attack ‘legal status’ move

Vijayawada: The Amaravati capital issue intensified politically, with senior leaders of YSRCP making divergent statements even as they mount a coordinated attack on the NDA government’s move to grant legal status to the capital.

While former ministers Perni Venkatramaiah (Nani) and Kakani Govardhan Reddy reiterated that the party is not opposed to Amaravati but only to alleged corruption and excessive borrowing in its name, senior leaders like Botcha Satyanarayana and Dharmana Prasada Rao questioned the very utility and intent of the government’s move.

The NDA coalition government, led by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, convened a special Assembly session on March 25 and passed a resolution seeking statutory backing for Amaravati as the state capital, stating that it would be forwarded for Parliamentary approval.

Dismissing the move, Satyanarayana said the Assembly resolution “is of no use,” asserting that “the decision regarding capitals is entirely the prerogative of the states.” He questioned the financial progress of Amaravati, stating, “A capital is the choice of the State. In the NDA government, they recognized Amaravati as the capital and passed a resolution. How much money has been spent? Rs 4,000 crore spent, bills for Rs 2,000 crore, and only Rs 1,000 crore brought from the Centre. At this rate, how many years will it take to complete Amaravati? If you truly cared about farmers, would you build a capital like this?”

At the same time, Dharmana Prasada Rao raised concerns over long-term regional implications, drawing parallels with Hyderabad. “Amaravati will develop. After it develops, people around Amaravati might one day tell others to leave, just like in Hyderabad. If one region is neglected, such situations arise,” he said, stressing the need for decentralisation.

Questioning the legal and constitutional validity of the move, he added, “Just because you pass a resolution and send it to Delhi, what happens if a future government comes and the capital fails? Don’t elected governments have the authority to change it? Our capital has changed many times, from Madras to Kurnool, from Kurnool to Hyderabad, and from Hyderabad to Amaravati. Why can’t it change again?”

YSRCP leaders have collectively termed the Assembly exercise a “political drama,” arguing that a resolution alone does not confer legal status and that proper legislative process involving all required institutions is necessary.

The party also intensified its attack on financial and land aspects of the project. It alleged that large-scale borrowing in the name of Amaravati has pushed the State into a debt burden, claiming that Rs 47,387 crore in loans has been sanctioned, including about Rs 13,000 crore raised in the last two years.

YSRCP further alleged that the real objective behind the renewed push is to acquire an additional 50,000 acres, rather than benefit the nearly 29,000 farmers who had already contributed around 33,000 acres under land pooling.

Reiterating its stand, Perni Nani said the party has never opposed Amaravati as a capital but has consistently opposed “corruption and excessive borrowing in its name,” maintaining that the current exercise is a “staged political move.” The party also defended its earlier decentralisation policy, stating that Amaravati was never meant to be abandoned but envisaged as part of a broader, balanced development framework.

With conflicting signals from within YSRCP and a sharp escalation in its criticism of the government’s approach, the Amaravati issue has once again emerged as a major political flashpoint in Andhra Pradesh.