Shivani Gadhavi –
Published On: November 21, 2021 at 19:10 IST
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 22nd November, 2021 was informed by the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet about the latter’s decision of withdrawing three major capital bills, after the bill was facing several petitions against it.
The AP Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, sought to create three capitals for the State of Andhra Pradesh. The other bill AP Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bills, 2020 will also be withdrawn. The APCRDA was also converted into Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority consequent to the passage of the APCRDA Repeal Act, 2020.
Although the bills were passed by the Assembly in July 2020, they were stalled in the Legislative Council where the ruling YSRCP didn’t have enough numbers for its approval.
The AP Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020 was introduced to have three capitals in the State; executive capital- Vishakhapatnam, judicial capital- Kurnool and legislative capital- Amaravati.
As soon as the bills were introduced, the government faced backlash and opposition from farmers of the Amaravati region who gave their lands for the capital.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court after the proposition of the bills started receiving several petitions challenging the validity of the bills which created a spur and controversy in the State, due to which the State Government decided to withdraw the bills.
The Civil supplies minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani) in a press conference after the meeting with the Cabinet stated that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stands by his decision. ‘There are some technical issues in the Bill and we are finding ways to clear all the hurdles,’ hinting that the bills can be revived later on by the Government.
