Amaravati Bill draws bouquets & brickbats, TDP ridicules MAVIGUN as capital
YSRCP dubbed move to develop Amaravati as huge land scam; TDP termed MAVIGUN as Jagan's new political drama
image for illustrative purpose
Vijayawada: The AP Reorganisation Amendment Bill, which was recently adopted by both the House of the Parliament to make Amaravati the legal capital of Andhra Pradesh, has raised a lot of heat in the State by drawing both bouquets and brickbats.
While the bill called as Amaravati received support from around 50 parties in the Parliament, the YSRCP walked out at the time of adoption, terming the decision on developing Amaravati on a huge stretch of delta land as the capital of AP as a big land scam.
While TDP strongly defended the move, YSRCP president and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy questioned the rationale behind enactment of such a law.
The party contended that it was the prerogative of a State to decide which place be made capital and one could change the capital as and when required as per the administrative convenience and wishes of the people.
When it was in power, YSRCP during 2019-24 brought the capital development work to a grinding halt, advocating trifurcation of the capital for, what it termed decentralised development. Jagan went one step ahead by calling for MAVIGUN (Machilipatnam-Vijayawada and Guntur) as the capital, which was promptly dismissed by Agriculture Minister K Atchan Naidu as a new political drama and part of diversionary tactics.
Ridiculing why the State Legislative Council was not convened to debate on the bill, Jagan wondered from where the State will mobilise Rs2 lakh crore and by when the capital city construction will be ready.
His argument was the State had drawn Rs13,000 crore, of which Rs5,300 crore went back in commissions in the form of a mobilisation advance.
Dwelling out details of the cost of five towers now under construction, he claimed that the price being paid to contractors is over Rs14,000 per sft, while in quality construction at already developed cities, it is just Rs4,000 over and above the generous exemption being given to them. "The contracts were given to the same building for the same project, but with double the price, which shows the level of corruption. For flyovers, he has been spending Rs 170 crore per kilometre, while we have spent Rs35 crore per km, which shows the stark contrast," he alleged.
Castigating the YSRCP for its narrow-minded approach, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidfu accused it of emerging as the lone party which had opposed the bill making Amaravati the sole capital of AP. Declaring that Amaravati is 'unstoppable,' the TDP national president said Amaravati will become like Hyderabad and other developed cities, one of the best greenfield capitals in the world in a short span of time. He stated that Amaravati will serve as a growth engine for AP in getting transformed into a $2.4 trillion economy by 2047 as part of Swarnandhra Vision. At a review meeting, he directed the officials to strictly follow the timelines drawn for completing capital city works.
The TDP leaders including party State president Palla Simhachalam blamed YSRCP for trying to create hurdles for Amaravati due to political jealousy and remarked that despite being taught a big lesson in the elections for capital ambiguity during the previous regime, Jagan & Co has mended their ways.
