Andhra Council Refers Bills on Three Capitals to Select Committee

In a setback to the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government, the opposition TDP dominated Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council on Wednesday, 22 January, and decided to refer to a select committee two bills aimed at creating three capitals for the state.

After five-hour long acrimonious debate and noisy scenes over rules and procedural issues followed by pandemonium, the 58-member Upper House, where the ruling party has only nine members, resolved to refer the bills to the select committee as demanded by the Telugu Desam Party.

The bills are: AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, which will give shape to the YSR Congress government’s plan of having three capitals and another to repeal the AP Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Act, 2014.

The state assembly had passed the bills on Monday after 17 MLAs of the TDP were suspended and amid protests by farmers of Amaravati region, who demanded that the town be retained as the capital.