A day ahead of his swearing ceremony as the CM, TDP (Telugu Desam Party) chief Chandrababu Naidu confirmed that Amaravati will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. This announcement was made at the NDA Legislative Party meeting held at Vijayawada on Tuesday.

During the meeting, he was unanimously elected the alliance’s leader of the House. His name was proposed by Jana Sena Party chief K Pawan Kalyan and was further supported by BJP state president and newly elected MP D Purandeswari.

The TDP chief promised that Amaravati would be the sole capital of the state and Vishakhapatnam would be developed as the economic capital and an advanced city.

new capital of Andhra Pradesh
Image Source: AP Industries

"Amaravati will be our capital. We will pursue constructive politics and not politics of vendetta. Visakhapatnam will be the commercial capital of the state. We will not play games with people like trying to have three capitals and such devious activities. Visakhapatnam has given a full mandate. We will develop Rayalaseema to give us a resounding mandate," Chandrababu Naidu said.

The NDA, comprising of TDP, JSP and BJP in Andhra Pradesh, had a statement win over the ruling YSRCP with a majority of 164 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats.

Taking shots at CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who proposed the idea of developing Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital and taking oath there, Naidu said the people had responded to it by defeating the YSRCP in Visakhapatnam.

In 2019, YSRCP led by Reddy won the state election with a sweeping victory floating the idea of decentralised development in the state. They proposed a three-capital model with Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital.

However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, in March 2022 ordered the ruling government to develop Amaravati as the state capital, the government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, where it is still pending.

State First Motto and Development Plans for the New Capital of Andhra Pradesh

While addressing the meeting Naidu said the government’s motto would be ‘State First’. “We do not know what our financial situation is. We do not know what the debt of our state is, where money was borrowed from, and what was mortgaged. We will work with the motto of ‘State First’ and aim for all round development.”

He further added by saying he has taken a vow, “that if I return to Assembly again, it will be as CM”.

JSP chief Pawan Kalyan expressed confidence in Naidu, stating that his experience and vision were required for leading the state.

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