Why Visakhapatnam has been declared new capital of Andhra Pradesh? Know state’s 3 capital plan

In a major announcement on Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the state will be sticking to its 3-capital plan, with the city of Visakhapatnam being the new capital on Andhra Pradesh in the days to come.

Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy announced that he will be shifting to Visakhapatnam “in the months to come” since the state capital is being shifted to the city. According to the announcement, the CM’s office will also be shifted to Visakhapatnam.

"Here I am to invite you to Visakhapatnam which is going to be our capital in the days to come. I myself would also be shifting over to Visakhapatnam in the months to come as well," CM Jagan Mohan Reddy announced during the Global Investor’s Summit.

Why has Andhra Pradesh capital shifted to Visakhapatnam?

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has been backing the three-capital model in Andhra Pradesh for the last few years, with Kurnool and Visakhapatnam joining the existing capital city of Amaravati for further development and industrialization of the state.

After Jagan Mohan Reddy took over in 2019, the state government wanted to have three capitals-Visakhapatnam-Executive Capital, Amaravati-Legislative capital, and Kurnool-Judicial capital, and passed appropriate legislation.

The Jagan Mohan Reddy government passed a Bill in the Assembly in November last year, repealing the controversial AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which was intended to establish three capitals for the state.

Despite the government’s attempts of plugging all the loopholes in the early version of the bill, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled against the three capitals and directed the government to develop Amaravati as the state capital as envisaged.

While the High Court has developed a timeline for the development of Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh, the state government has now made clear its plans for the development of Visakhapatnam as the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

Several ministers have been categorically saying that the government would come up with a new Bill on the three capitals issue, the ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court notwithstanding.

(With PTI inputs)

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