The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, announced that he will move his office to Visakhapatnam, which is the new capital of the state. He made the announcement during a public meeting in Srikakulam on April 19. The move will take place by September as part of the decentralisation of governance. Jagan previously announced Visakhapatnam as the state capital in January, replacing Amaravati.
Jagan also laid the foundation stone for a modern fishing harbour that costs Rs 360 crore during the meeting. He said that the previous government failed to develop a harbour or port that would have led to growth in northern Andhra. The former Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, had announced Amaravati as the new capital of the state after the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh in 2014. But Jagan withdrew the plan when he became the successor.
Initially, Jagan had announced that Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals – Amaravati for Legislature, Kurnool for Judiciary, and Visakhapatnam for the Executive. However, in November 2021, Jagan repealed the controversial AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, which intended to establish three capitals for the state. Jagan said his government would bring them back in a new form.
The previous government pooled lands from the farmers of Amaravati towards the capital’s construction, and they have been protesting against the government’s decision. In March last year, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered the state government to develop Amaravati as the state’s capital within six months and continue all halted development activities in the region. But, the YSRCP government had approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s verdict.
