CM's camp office likely in Vizag amid 3 capitals row

There is buzz that as clearing legal hurdles to form executive capital will be delayed further and the elections are scheduled to be held in 2024, the government may prefer to make Visakhapatnam the seat of power by opening CM's camp office at Rushikonda or some other picturesque locale

Visakhapatnam: Amid speculation that the YSRCP government is toying with the idea of opening of Chief Minister's Camp Office in Visakhapatnam in the near future due to court cases over establishing the executive capital here, the Opposition parties as well as the farmers of Amaravati have stepped up efforts to oppose trifurcation of the capital.

There is buzz that as clearing legal hurdles to form executive capital will be delayed further and the elections are scheduled to be held in 2024, the government may prefer to make Visakhapatnam the seat of power by opening CM's camp office at Rushikonda or some other picturesque locale. A minister also hinted that the next elections will be fought over three capital issues indicating that trifurcation of the capital may necessitate more time.

With the Daspalla land issue snowballing into a major controversy, YSRCP Parliamentary Party leader V Vijaya Sai Reddy claims that the entire propaganda unleashed by the Opposition is aimed at stalling the government decision to set up legislative capital at Amaravati, executive capital at Visakhapatnam and judicial capital at Kurnool to ensure centralised development.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that land sharks are on the prowl to grab valuable lands in Visakhapatnam, known as City of Destiny and the only cosmopolitan city with good air, rail, road and sea connectivity with robust industrial ecosystem.

Sharpening the criticism against the State government, actor and Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan, a ally of Bharatiya Janata Party, said with a note of sarcasm challenged Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to form 25 capitals with one in each district by making the State into the United States of Andhra Pradesh.

Even as the YSRCP leaders who formed North Andhra JAC called for 'Visakha Garjana' on October 15 here to garner public support against opposition to trifurcation and the maha padayatra by Amaravati Parirakshana Samiti from Amaravati to Arasavilli in Srikakulam district, the TDP has launched 'Save North Andhra' campaign. "Land sharks led by Vijaya Sai Reddy are in to grab valuable lands in the city on some pretext or the other. It's an eighth wonder that in Kurmannapalem area, a YSRCP MP has coerced a land owner to sign an agreement for development by giving consent to take just one per cent share," TDP leader and former MP Palla Srinivasa Rao, said.

In another development, a delegation of TDP led by MPs Jayadev Galla and P Ravindra Babu on Thursday represented to Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in New Delhi against attempts by YSRCP activists and leaders to disrupt the maha padayatra undertaken by Amaravati farmers opposing trifurcation of the capital. There is a deliberate attempt to stop the padayatra by saying that it will lead to law and order problems, the TDP MPs alleged.