Andhra Pradesh BJP writes to Guv urging him to not approve capital decentralisation bills

Andhra Pradesh BJP President Kanna Lakshmi Narayana on Saturday wrote to Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, requesting him to not grant assent to the capital decentralisation bills that have been presented before him by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government. In his letter, the State BJP President has asked the Andhra Pradesh Governor to "consider the constitutional aspects of the matter and the stand of several stakeholders," when it came to the controversial 3-capital system proposed by the YSRCP.

This comes a day after the Andhra Pradesh government presented the APDecentralisationand Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Bill, 2020, to Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan.

According to PTI sources, the Governor is looking towards initiating a legal examination of the two contentious bills along with referring it to President Ram Nath Kovind before giving them his approval. 

Read: Bills For Andhra Pradesh's Three Capitals Sent To Governor For Assent

Read: Andhra Pradesh: TDP Hits Out At YSRCP Govt Over COVID Crisis, Alleges Negligence

Protests against 3-capital system

The state Assembly had earlier passed the 'Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill 2020' which proposes to have a legislative capital at Amaravati, executive capital and Raj Bhavan at Visakhapatnam and judicial capital at Kurnool. This would mean that the Secretariat would be situated in Visakhapatnam, High Court in Kurnool and State Assembly at Amaravati. 

This decision was met with severe backlash especially in Amravati which has been witnessing relentless protests against the move for months. The opposition including former CM and TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu has urged Reddy to reevaluate his decision decentralising Amravati, pointing out that farmers under Amaravati Joint Action Committee (JAC) have been agitating against this move and 66 of them have lost their lives due to this protest.

Read: Andhra Pradesh DGP Tours Vizag To Identify Government Lands For Three Capital Plan

Read: TDP MPs Meet President Kovind, Allege YSRCP Govt Running 'Jungle Raj' In Andhra Pradesh