The eagerly-awaited announcement by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on the new capital in the Assembly was put off on Tuesday and is likely to be made on Thursday.
While a few Ministers said the Chief Minister postponed the announcement to Thursday because it is an auspicious day, other legislators said the absence of Leader of the Opposition, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy from the House was one of the main reasons for the change in the government’s decision.
Mr. Jagan had gone to Idupulapaya in Kadapa district to pay tributes to his father and former Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy at his samadhi on his death anniversary.
Divergent viewsMeanwhile, Major Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao have suggested that the new capital to be located in Vijayawada and its surrounding environs be named after former Chief Minister and founder of Telugu Desam Party N.T. Rama Rao. Mr. Pulla Rao and TDP MLA, D. Narendra said they proposed to the Chief Minister that the capital be christened as ‘Tarakarama Nagar.’
Mr. Pulla Rao said farmers were willing to part with 8,000 acres if the capital city is named after NTR.
However, another senior legislator of the ruling party, who did not wish to be identified, said the capital city should be named as ‘Amaravati’ and recalled that Amaravati in Guntur district was the capital during the reign of the Satavahanas. The legislator maintained that important buildings and monuments that would come up in the capital city could be named after NTR.
Another TDP MLA said Mr. Naidu was keen on building a world class capital. The mandals that would be part of the capital include Vijayawada urban and rural, Ibrahimpatnam, Kanchikacharla, Nandigama and Jaggayyapeta in Krishna and Amaravati, Sullur, Tadikonda and Mangalagiri in Guntur district. The Chief Minister would like tall buildings of more than 40 storeys to come on either side of the river and commuting could be through four or five new bridges.
