Amaravati: HC Says 6 Months, Jagan Allots ‘Zero’

The Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the state government to develop the capital city of Amaravati within the next six months. Putting an end to the ‘three capitals’ proposal put forward by YCP president and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the HC asked the government to develop the infrastructure facilities in Amaravati and across the state, as envisaged under the Capital Regional Development Authority (CRDA), by the previous government.

However, the YCP government did not make any allocations towards the development of the capital in the Budget 2022-23 presented with an outlay of Rs 2.56 lakh crore by Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, a couple of days ago.

Botsa’s Announcements

Minister Botsa Satyanarayana who had been repeating and affirming that the capital would be divided into three parts till then, changed his tone and began announcing that Hyderabad could continue to remain the capital till 2024, indirectly hinting that the YCP government would not invest anything on Amaravati.

Despite being directed by the court to develop Amaravati, Jagan did not give a hoot to the orders.

Since the YCP government came to power, the courts have been working over time dealing with several petitions filed by the state government on various issues as many of the government’s decisions proved to be controversial and anti-people, said political observers.

The YCP leaders even went to the extent to making a mockery of the judiciary by criticizing the judges and attributing ulterior motives to them, they reminded.

Destructive mode

Meanwhile, the opposition parties have been criticizing the YCP government for being on the destructive mode since it came to power. The government started off its rule by demolishing Praja Vedika, a building meant to hold official conferences and other government programmes, reminded TDP leaders.

Jagan never wanted to develop the capital or generate wealth. He is only interested in taxing the people and distributing the accumulated wealth to the poor in the name of schemes. He is like a Robin Hood looting the wealthy and distributing the same to the poor, which in turn is making them lazy, they pointed out.

Jagan is behaving like an opportunist changing his stance whenever he wants to basing on his need. Amaravati is the last thing on his mind, they said.

For some time, Jagan tried to make it appear as though Amaravati would be developed at least as the legislative capital but nothing much was done in this direction, the opposition parties reminded.

At times, the money he is distributing through various schemes is going into the hands of fake beneficiaries. The YCP leaders and ministers are also resorting to heavy corruption in the name of sand mining.

Priorities misplaced

When the farmers were asked as to why had they voted for the YCP when it was the TDP which promised a world-class capital to them, a few of them said they voted for YCP as they wanted to clear some debts for Jagan promised to give money to them after coming to power.

Some others said that Jagan asked for ‘one chance’ and they wanted to see the difference he would bring in their life by giving him that opportunity.

Lured by Jagan’s words and promises, the farmers voted for the YCP but were disillusioned when he made the three-capital proposal and even tried to suppress their agitation using police force.

It is clear that Jagan is in no mood to even take a glance at Amaravati during the remaining two years of his tenure even when ordered by the High Court to focus on the development of the capital as planned during the previous government regime.