Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad: YSRC senior leader Y.V. Subba Reddy has sparked controversy by announcing that his party would push for extending the common capital status of Hyderabad for a few more years. Under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was declared the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years, which is set to end in June this year.
AP minister Ambati Rambabu also supported the demand, stating that the Centre should decide on whether to continue Hyderabad as the joint capital.
Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, Subba Reddy said the YSRC would raise the demand in the Lok Sabha after the general elections. He did not provide a clear rationale for the demand, but insisted that the Centre should consider it until Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy succeeded in shifting the capital to Visakhapatnam.
Subba Reddy blamed former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for the delay in building the AP capital, accusing the TD government of wasting time in the name of setting up a temporary capital.
He noted that Jagan Mohan Reddy had refused to build the grandiose Amaravati capital and instead intended to use the funds for the welfare of the poor, but his decision to shift the capital to Vizag was also met with opposition.
While Subba Reddy acknowledged that several AP employees still resided in Hyderabad, he did not disclose whether the YSRC would prefer to rule from Hyderabad.
Leaders from various political affiliations, including Telugu Desam and Telangana state, ridiculed the senior YSR Congress leader’s announcement. Telangana BJP leaders saw it as a conspiracy jointly hatched by BRS chief K. Chandrashekar Rao and Jagan Mohan Reddy to stoke regional sentiments.
Former minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy also criticized the demand, calling it ridiculous and against the bifurcation Act. He questioned why these leaders did not voice similar opinions when KCR was CM.
Former Gajuwaka MLA and TD parliamentary constituency president Palla Srinivasa Rao stated that it would be senseless to move to Hyderabad. Former floor leader and AP BJP vice-president P. Vishnu Kumar Raju blamed both Chandrababu Naidu and Jagan Mohan Reddy for the fiasco, stating that it was a mistake to shift the capital from Hyderabad without building a full-fledged capital in Andhra Pradesh.