Andhra Pradesh withdraws controversial 3-Capital Bill

The Ahdhra Pradesh government has withdrawn the controversial three-capital bill after facing massive resistance from several quarters. The state had been witnessing protests for over two years over the proposed law. Three capitals were proposed in the bill - executive capital at Vizag, legislative capital at Amaravati, judicial capital at Kurnool. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy made the big announcement in the state assembly on Monday. "We believed that decentralisation of capital is much needed in Andhra Pradesh. Government is going to take back the Bill which was introduced earlier. We will introduce a new Bill with no errors," Reddy said. The Assembly has passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Repeal Bill, 2021 which withdraws the earlier law relating to the three capitals plan for the state.

Farmers and landowners were upset over the proposed law, claiming they had to leave their land for the development of the new capital. A 45-day foot march was kicked off from Amaravati to Tirupati by farmers on November 1. The demonstrators reached Nellore on Sunday. In June, the Chief Minister had met Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking special category status to the state, besides nod for three bills, including this one. Earlier in the day, Advocate General Subrahmanyam Sriram informed the Andhra Pradesh High Court of the government’s decision to withdraw the controversial Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020, in an affidavit. Amaravati will be the sole capital of the state, the AG said, according to Bar and Bench, while the court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the law.