Jagan to shift his office to Vizag by Dussehra
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will shift his office to Visakhapatnam by October 24, while other administrative offices will be moved in a phased manner. This move follows the decision to have three capitals for the state, which was later challenged in court.
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will shift his office to Visakhapatnam from its present location in capital Amaravati by October 24, coinciding with the Dasara (or Dussehra) festival, while other administrative offices will be moved to the port city in a phased manner, a state minister said on Thursday.
A decision to this effect was taken during a cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat on Wednesday, minister for information and public relations (I&PR) Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna told reporters.
“The cabinet has also given its approval to shift administrative offices to Visakhapatnam in a phased manner. But in the first phase, the chief minister’s office (CMO) will be shifted and it will start operating from the port city with effect from October 24, coinciding with Dasara festival,” the minister said.
He added that the government will follow the suggestions of the special committee set up to identify administrative office buildings in Vizag.
Soon after forming government in May 2019, chief minister Reddy in December that year announced that the state would have three capitals — executive (administrative) capital at Visakhapatnam, while legislative and judicial capitals at Amaravati and Kurnool, respectively — in a move he said was for the decentralisation of state administration.
In June 2020, the state legislature passed a bill in this regard, but it was challenged in the high court by Amaravati farmers, who had parted from their land for the development of the city as the state capital.
After prolonged hearings, the Andhra Pradesh high court on March 3, 2022, upheld Amaravati as the only capital of the state and questioned the legislative competence of the assembly to pass the three-capitals bill. In September last year, the state government challenged the high court verdict in the Supreme Court, which will hear the matter next in November.
In the meantime, Jagan Mohan Reddy in March this year had announced that he would be moving his office and residence to the port city in a few months.
The Vizag district administration is making arrangements to accommodate the CMO in the official complex being built on the seafront hillock of Rushikonda, people familiar with the matter said.
Besides the camp office and residence of the chief minister, offices related to the support staff, especially the General Administration Department (GAD), will also be shifted to Vizag, the people added.
On Thursday, regional coordinator of ruling YSR Congress Party for Visakhapatnam,YV Subba Reddy, attributed the delay in shifting of the executive capital to Vizag to the legal hurdles created by the “vested interests”.
He added that Jagan Reddy will be moving to the port city by Dasara as “there are no legal hurdles” for the chief minister to operate from any place of his choice.
Stating that the administrative offices for all the departments would be getting ready soon, the leader said Visakhapatnam is the most suitable city as the capital. “It is the largest city in the entire South India and even the Centre has come forward to extend financial assistance for developing it,” he added.
ANY POLITICAL REAX?