India News | Oppn Calls Jagan's Move to Repeal Capitals Law a 'drama'

Amaravati, Nov 22 (PTI): The opposition parties on Monday dubbed as a 'drama', the Jagan Mohan Reddy government's decision to repeal the legislation enabling establishment of three capitals for Andhra Pradesh and said that it only pushed the people into further confusion.

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The opposition parties also said the hasty decision was only to avert a certain defeat in the High Court, where writ petitions were being heard over the illegal legislation.

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They also found fault with the Chief Minister's announcement that the government would soon bring in a fresh Bill on the three capitals issue.

Leader of the Opposition and Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu said Jagan's actions only damaged the state enormously.

TDP general secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh called Jagan 'Tughlaq 3.0' and slammed the latter over "total lies and half-truths" over the capital issue.

Jagan only grossly misled the people, claiming they gave him a huge mandate in 2019 for the capital trifurcation plan, Lokesh said in a statement.

Jana Sena president K Pawan Kalyan said the Jagan government took the hasty decision only to escape the High Court.

"As defeat (in High Court) became certain, the government hurriedly brought in the repeal Bill for a temporary escape. The government started a new drama when everyone was expecting the court to bring the curtains down on the capital issue," Kalyan pointed out.

State Congress president Sake Sailajanath demanded that the Chief Minister come out with a clear statement on the capital and not beat around the bush.

"We don't want your deceitful talk. It's atrocious to say a new Bill will be brought in. This has only caused further confusion," Sailajanath lashed out.

He demanded that Jagan stick to his earlier word and retain Amaravati as the sole capital of AP.

The YSR Congress president was only deceiving people in the name of decentralisation, he added.

BJP general secretary Satya Kumar also said the Decentralisation Repeal Bill was only a 'drama' as defeat stared in the government's face on the capital Bill in the High Court.

The YSRC did not have any right to speak on decentralised development as it grossly neglected the development of Rayalaseema region, Satya Kumar alleged.

It was on December 17, 2019 that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy first mooted, in the Legislative Assembly, the idea of having three capitals for the state, on the lines of South Africa.

On January 20, 2020, the state Assembly passed the Decentralisation Bill, but it got stalled in the Council the next day. On January 22, 2020, the Council referred the Bill to a select committee for deeper examination, prompting the Chief Minister to seek abolition of the Council.

The Assembly again passed the Bill on June 16,2020, but it did not clear the Council hurdle the next day.

On July 18, 2020, the government sent the Bill, along with the AP Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bill, to the Governor for his assent under Article 197 (1) and (2) of the Constitution as a month had elapsed since the Bills were stalled (for the second time) in the Council.

Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan gave his assent to the two Bills on July 31, 2020, thus turning them into Acts.

Ever since the Chief Minister first mooted the three capitals plan, thousands of farmers, who parted with over 33,000 acres of their rich fertile land for building the Amaravati capital city, took to the streets and launched an agitation, demanding that the trifurcation move be withdrawn.

The farmers' agitation crossed 700 days and they are now midway through a 45-day foot march to Tirumala Hills in support of their demand.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)