PNS|Vijayawada
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai has said that the Central government had already made it clear that the power to decide on the capital rests with the respective states.
In a written reply to a question asked by members of the YSRCP in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday in the light of the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court rejecting the decision of the State government to set up three capitals, he said the Central government had constituted an expert committee to study the alternatives for setting up a new capital in accordance with Sections 5 and 6 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
The minister said that the report of the committee had been sent by the Central government to the State government for further action. In this connection, the State government issued a notification on April 23, 2015 declaring Amaravati as the capital city of the State. Subsequently, the Andhra Pradesh government repealed the APCRDA Act, 2020.
The minister said that the Andhra Pradesh government had brought the Decentralisation and Integrated Development of All Regions Act, 2020 (APDIDAR) declaring Amaravati as the Legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the Executive capital, and Kurnool as the Judicial capital.
He said that the Andhra Pradesh government did not hold any consultation with the Centre while making the law. The next government repealed the Act in 2021. The State government filed a Special Appeal (Civil) in the Supreme Court challenging the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s judgment against the three capitals. The minister said that the matter is currently under investigation.
