“Which region should be the capital of a state is a decision that rests with the state government,” said Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on February 5, 2020, in the Lok Sabha in response to a question raised by a Telugu Desam Party member. The Union Home Ministry also stated in an affidavit submitted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court at the same time that it had no role in deciding the capital. Exactly six years later, history has rewritten itself. The same minister who once said in Parliament that they had nothing to do with the capital issue, has now introduced in the Lok Sabha, last Thursday, an amendment bill to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, clearly stating that Amaravati will be the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Everyone knows why the Centre, which once kept itself completely aloof saying it had no involvement in the capital issue, has now agreed to grant legal status to Amaravati as the capital. Everyone also knows why a situation arose where a state had no capital for twelve years. The scenes of intense chaos in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha when Parliament decided to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh twelve years ago have not yet faded from the public memory. In complete contrast to that atmosphere, almost all parties supported the bill granting legal status to Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh. Only the members of the YSR Congress Party walked out of both Houses, because they are well aware that it was the stand taken by their leader Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy that led to the necessity of introducing such a bill in Parliament.
When the Telugu Desam Party entered the 2024 elections in alliance with the Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, many were surprised. Some even questioned whether there was any need for the BJP in Andhra Pradesh at all. However, the benefits of this alliance would have become clear to them on the day the Amaravati bill was passed. After becoming Chief Minister for the second time in the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu took steps to revive the Amaravati works that had stalled during the YSRCP rule. With the Centre’s support, loans were secured from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Many other banks also came forward to finance infrastructure. However, some industrialists and diplomats from various countries expressed doubts about whether Amaravati would continue as the capital in the future. It was to remove these doubts that Chandrababu sought the Centre’s support. Since the Telugu Desam Party is a key ally, the top leadership of the BJP stood firmly behind him this time.
After Chandrababu personally requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year to grant legal status to Amaravati, the Centre raised several questions. It sent a note to multiple ministries including the Home Ministry, Law Ministry, Urban Development Ministry, NITI Aayog, and the Expenditure Department of the Finance Ministry, seeking their opinions. It even consulted the Attorney General. It examined aspects such as the basis for ensuring a comfortable life for people in the new capital, measures taken to ease business, international best practices being followed, and the law and order situation. Only after extensive deliberations and discussions did the Centre decide to grant legal status to Amaravati. As the second phase of Parliament’s budget session was to conclude within a week, the Prime Minister’s Office informed the Chief Minister that if a resolution granting legal status to Amaravati as the state capital was passed and sent, a decision would be taken immediately. Notably, this information was conveyed through Satya Kumar Yadav, a minister representing the BJP in the state.
If Modi decides, what cannot be done? After the Assembly passed the resolution, the amendment bill to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act was decided overnight and given legal form in the last two days of the budget session. Leaders from several parties, including JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha, stated that it is due to the crucial support extended by a visionary leader like Chandrababu that Amaravati is receiving legal recognition in Parliament in such an extraordinary manner. In any case, a state capital receiving recognition in the Government of India Gazette after approval from Parliament and the President in such an exceptional manner is a testament to Chandrababu’s effectiveness. Raising debates now on whether Amaravati should be the capital or not, or trying to politicize it, is completely unnecessary. In fact, if the decisions taken earlier by Chandrababu had been continued by governments led by Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and later K. Chandrashekar Rao, and even by the Jagan government, this discussion would not have arisen today. It is natural to have doubts about how the capital will look, how it will be built over thousands of acres, and how long it will take to complete. Chandrababu is a person who has fought many battles, endured setbacks, and emerged victorious again. He has immense confidence and experience, and has proven many times that he possesses long-term vision. Therefore, his decisions cannot be judged with short-sighted thinking or a mindset that finds fault at every step. Unfortunately, in our country, not only opposition parties but even critics have long abandoned a constructive approach.
Those who have seen Chandrababu as Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh between 1995 and 2004 would have no doubts about his capability. The language used by Chief Ministers before him was different, and the language he used was different. As a journalist, I personally witnessed his whirlwind visits to Delhi, where he would meet ministers, industrialists, foreign representatives, and World Bank officials all in a single day, giving PowerPoint presentations. When he took us to the inauguration of the Hitech City building amidst rocks and barren land, when he introduced Bill Gates, when he spoke about optical fiber and broadband in an era without mobile phones, and when he used data as a tool, everything seemed confusing at the time. But gradually, an area in Hyderabad transformed into Cyberabad, becoming a modern face of India with IT companies and institutions like ISB. It was a time when government orders were issued overnight for industrialists and approvals were granted within 15 days. Recently, when I visited Ireland, I was reminded that Chandrababu had visited the Dublin dockyard back then and adopted its PPP model for developing the Hitech City area in Hyderabad.
During Chandrababu’s tenure as Chief Minister, I underwent nearly a month of training as a financial journalist at the invitation of the World Bank to understand the terminology of reforms and new economic policies of that time. That was a period when Andhra Pradesh had a strong association with the World Bank. At that time, after the newspaper I worked for shut down, I was managing a Telugu website. One day, while I was presenting e-governance services at a stall on behalf of that organization at Hotel Grand Kakatiya in Hyderabad, Chief Minister Chandrababu came to the stall, saw me, and was surprised. He asked, “What are you doing here?” I replied, “I don’t have a newspaper job anymore.” There is no doubt that changing circumstances also create new opportunities. Change is always for the better.
As British singer John Lennon sang, “Imagine there’s no heaven… it’s easy if you try… no hell below us… above us only sky,” nothing is impossible if one tries. However, some may ask whether there is no difference between the conditions of 1995–2004 and those of today. Chandrababu is well aware of the changing circumstances, the people around him, and the ongoing developments.
akrishnarao 