Will Jagan reintroduce three capitals bills?

Is Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy gearing up to reintroduce the three capitals bills in the Assembly? Will he table the bills once again in the Assembly and move the administration to Visakhapatnam?

These are the questions doing rounds in state politics these days. The issue of the three capitals came to the light with the ruling party leaders heaving a sigh of relief after the retirement of Justice N V Ramana as the chief justice of the Supreme Court in the last week of August.

Minister for Industries, Gudivada Amarnath had admitted that the government would make its next move on the three capitals and make Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital of the state. He claimed that the party would go for the 2024 general elections only after shifting administration to Visakhapatnam.

Earlier too, Ministers Botsa Satyanarayana, Seediri Appala Raju and Adimulapu Suresh, have made statements on the government’s commitment to continue the three capitals proposal. Even Jagan Mohan Reddy had made a mention of the three capitals and his plans to shift to Visakhapatnam during his Independence Day celebrations in Vijayawada this year.

The government is planning to hold the winter session of the Assembly any time after September 15. Sources say that the chief minister is planning to reintroduce the bills and then move to Visakhapatnam after the Assembly session or around Vijayadasami in October this year.

If what is discussed in the Chief Minister’s Office at Tadepalli is to be taken seriously, Jagan Mohan Reddy would shift his administration to Visakhapatnam this year, or the latest by Ugadi in 2023. It is to be seen how the ruling party would handle the issue as the farmers of Amaravati and the opposition parties are against such a move!