A few weeks before elections, the ruling YSRCP party in andhra pradesh has introduced a fresh twist to the capital narrative, with its plan to establish three state capitals failing to gain traction even after four years. A few weeks before the concurrent elections for the assembly and Lok Sabha, YSRCP leader Y.V. Subba reddy said that hyderabad would remain the joint capital of andhra pradesh and telangana till andhra pradesh had its capital.
Senior party leader Subba reddy is the uncle of chief minister Y.S. jagan Mohan Reddy. Some political analysts believe that he might not have made the statement on his own. The opposition TDP-Jana Sena combination has launched a fierce attack on the jagan administration for maintaining the state without a capital, hence the remark is perceived as an attempt to reroute the conversation.
Hyderabad was designated as the joint capital of the two telugu states under the andhra pradesh Reorganisation Act, of 2014, for ten years, from june 2, 2014, to june 2, 2024, when it would become the capital of telangana alone.
AP remains without a capital
Hyderabad is located inside Telangana's data-borders, but the UPA administration, which was run by the congress at the time, decided to declare it the joint capital of both states to appease residents of the residual state who were upset about losing the city that had served as the combined state's capital since 1956. Another goal of the ten years was to give andhra pradesh time to establish its capital. Despite several detours, the remnant state still lacks a capital city.
Eight years ahead of schedule, on october 6, 2015, prime minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the new capital city of amaravati, where andhra pradesh chief minister N. chandrababu naidu relocated the seat of government.
Naidu had ambitious intentions to turn amaravati into a global city and had persuaded farmers in 29 nearby villages to donate their land for land pooling. A few of the megaproject's components had also been worked on by the tdp government. But all changed when the tdp lost the 2019 elections. A few months after taking office, jagan, the head of the opposition, abandoned amaravati, the state capital.