AP CM confirms relocation to Vizag soon

• The governments Special Leave Petition against AP High Court order on developing Amaravati as the only capital is pending

• TDP, CPI, CPI (M), JSP as well as BJP are supporting continuation of Amaravati as the single capital

• The Amaravati farmers, who surrendered 35,000 acres under the Land Pooling Scheme are fighting the legal battle

• APTDC has already sought tenders for Rushikonda development in three blocks

• Buzz is that the Rushikonda resorts being redeveloped with an investment of Rs 190 crore might become CM's Office

• The Rushikonda resort construction has led to allegations on violation of Coastal Regulation Zone restrictions

Visakhapatnam: As the elections scheduled to be held in June, 2024 fast approaching, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday chose the diplomats and industrialists' roundtable conference held in New Delhi to invite them to Global Investors' Summit to make an emphatic announcement that Visakhapatnam is going to be the capital of Andhra Pradesh in the days to come.

Even as the Special Leave Petition filed by the State Government against AP High Court order on developing Amaravati as the only capital is pending, the Chief Minister who flew to the national capital on Monday night, said he will also relocate to Visakhapatnam soon. The announcement came in the backdrop of speculation that the government might set up a camp office in Visakhapatnam as the State Assembly elections are coming closer.

Already Nara Lokesh, TDP national general secretary and son of Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu is on a 4,000 km long padayatra, which was launched on January 27. Tollywood star and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan recently launched his specially designed campaign vehicle 'Varahi.' He has already dropped hints at aligning with TDP to prevent split in non-YSRCP votes.

In his introductory address, which became viral in social media and digital media evoking sharp criticism from his political detractors, the Chief Minister invited the diplomats and industrialists to visit Visakhapatnam, where the Global Investors' Summit (GIS) being held on March 3 and 4 in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and KPMG as the knowledge partner to visit Visakhapatnam. He also wanted them to become brand investors for investment in Andhra Pradesh as the State after 2019 has improved the ecosystem for ease of doing business.

TDP, CPI, CPI (M), JSP as well as BJP are supporting continuation of Amaravati as the single capital. However, pointing out that they are against centralised development, the YSRCP Government is batting for trifurcation with Visakhapatnam as executive capital, Amaravati as legislative capital and Kurnool as judicial capital. The Amaravati farmers, who surrendered 35,000 acres under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS) for capital development when Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister are fighting the legal battle under the banner of Amaravati Farmers' JAC.

As the new academic year will start in June, the government seems to be in a hurry to shift to Visakhapatnam. AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has already sought tenders for Rushikonda development in three blocks. Once capital is made operational, several government employees need to be transferred.

There is buzz for quite some time that the Rushikonda resorts being redeveloped by APTDC with an investment of Rs 190 crore might become Chief Minister's Office. Environmentalists and political activists came down heavily against the government for demolishing the old resorts built in 2006, which used to generate a revenue of Rs 7.2 crore per annum. The construction activity at Rushikonda overlooking the beach also led to allegations on violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) restrictions. AP Minister for Industries Gudivada Amarnath and Minister for Education Botcha Satyanarayana and YSRCP general secretary have been repeatedly claiming that executive capital will be operational in Visakhapatnam in a couple of months.