Hyderabad no longer joint capital, uncertainty looms over Andhra’s official buildings
Uncertainty prevails over the fate of the buildings allocated to Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad as it ceases to be the common capital of the two Telugu states
As Hyderabad ceases to be the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with effect from Sunday, uncertainty prevails over the fate of the buildings allocated to Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad.
As per Section 5 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad shall be the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for a period not exceeding 10 years with effect from June 2, 2014. After expiry of the 10-year period, Hyderabad will be the capital of Telangana.
During this 10-year period, Andhra Pradesh could operate its administration and the assembly proceedings from Hyderabad, till it had own capital city. As per the agreement, part of the Secretariat complex and a few buildings in Hyderabad were allotted to Andhra Pradesh to run the administration.
Similarly, the Lake View Guest House, located near Raj Bhavan at Somajiguda, was also allotted to the camp office of the Andhra Pradesh chief minister.
For about a year after the bifurcation of the combined state, the Andhra Pradesh administration operated from Hyderabad. However, the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu decided to construct a new capital city at Amaravati and he felt it inconvenient to administer Andhra Pradesh from the neighbouring state, though Hyderabad was the common capital for 10 years.
Without waiting till the completion of the new capital city, Naidu chose to shift the administration to Vijayawada and parts of Guntur. Within one year, he had got the state secretariat built at Velagapudi in Amaravati and moved the administrative setup there. Within no time, the state assembly was shifted and a couple of years later, even the high court was moved to Amaravati.
Over a period of time, the Andhra Pradesh government vacated most of its allotted buildings in Hyderabad, including those given to it in the state secretariat and handed them over to Telangana. Only three buildings – Hermitage official building complex at Adarsh Nagar, the crime investigation department (CID) building at Lakdi-ka-pool and the Lake View guest house have still been under the control of the Andhra government.
With Hyderabad becoming the sole capital of Telangana with effect from Sunday, chief minister A Revanth Reddy, at an official review meeting on May 15, directed the officials to take over the buildings allotted to Andhra Pradesh during the 10-year period.
A senior official in Telangana secretariat familiar with the development said the Andhra Pradesh government wrote to the Telangana government a few days ago requesting that it be allowed to retain these three buildings for one more year, till it finds permanent accommodation for them in Andhra.
“It wants to continue to run its offices in Hyderabad for some more time, till they get permanent buildings in Andhra Pradesh. It even offered to pay rent for the same starting June 2,” the official said.
However, the Revanth Reddy government did not respond to the Andhra Pradesh government’s request yet, in view of the elections. “The issue was supposed to come up for discussion at the state cabinet meeting on May 20, but it did not, as the Election Commission of India (ECI) strictly asked the government not to discuss any issue related to inter-state matters during MCC,” he said.
A decision might be taken on the issue by the Revanth Reddy government after the lifting of the model code of conduct on June 6, depending on which government will be formed in Andhra Pradesh.