Andhra Pradesh capital Confusion - why?

The deadline looming over hyderabad being the shared capital of andhra pradesh and telangana, the leadership of both states are raking up the issue in their campaigns for simultaneous assembly and lok sabha elections. As per the andhra pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, hyderabad was to be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years from june 2014 to june 2, 2024, after which it would be the capital of telangana alone, as the city is located inside its territory. While telugu desam party (TDP) says it would develop Amravati – its chosen capital when it comes to power – Bharati Rashtra Samithi (BRS) says if the bjp comes to power at the Centre, it may amend the ap Reorganisation Act, and turn hyderabad into a Union Territory.

WHAT IS ap REORGANISATION ACT?

The state of andhra pradesh was bifurcated in 2014 for creation of Telangana. The andhra pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 was introduced in lok sabha on february 13, 2014 by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. The newly formed state of telangana will comprise the following districts of Andhra Pradesh: Adilabad, Karminagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Warangal, Rangareddi, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, khammam and Hyderabad. andhra pradesh and telangana will have a common capital, hyderabad, for 10 years. After this period, hyderabad shall be the capital of telangana only. The central government will constitute an expert committee to recommend a new capital for andhra pradesh within 45 days of this Bill’s enactment.

After the bifurcation, andhra pradesh will have 11 seats in Rajya Sabha, and telangana will have 7. In lok sabha, andhra pradesh will have 25 seats and telangana will have 17 seats. The total number of seats in the Legislative assembly for andhra pradesh will be 175 and for telangana will be 119.

YSRCP mp YV Subba reddy and close aide of andhra pradesh Chief minister YS jagan Mohan reddy said hyderabad should continue as the joint capital until the state has its own capital. reddy, however, insisted that Visakhapatnam should be developed as the administrative capital of the state. jagan is believed to have deferred his Visakhapatnam plans as he is currently focusing on winning the assembly elections, as per a report in The indian Express. The opposition telugu desam party (TDP) claimed YSRCP leaders wanted to retain hyderabad as Andhra capital due to the illegal assets they owned in the city. tdp state president K Atchen Naidu said, as quoted by The indian Express, “Jagan destroyed Amaravati, the capital city announced by the tdp, but there is no progress in converting Visakhapatnam into the administrative capital. Actually, they don’t have any plans to build a capital city. The indecision is only because they have illegal assets and properties amassed in hyderabad that they want to protect, and are also afraid of losing the coming elections.”