Chandrababu Naidu wants a new capital at par with Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 31: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday asked the Centre to develop a city at par with Hyderabad as the capital of Andhra Pradesh after a separate state of Telangana is formed. The city will be made a joint capital for the two states for 10 years.

The former Andhra chief minister said the Centre should allocate funds for the development of a new capital city and also asked the government to earmark funds in the bill that it will table for formation of Telangana.

Naidu, who is credited to have developed Hyderabad into 'Cyberabad' during his rule between 1995 and 2004, said the city has IT firms, educational institutes, international airport, convention centres, research organisations and various other important establishments.

On the question of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, the TDP chief said he did not mind if there are two states and felt that the Telugu-speaking people should remain united.

Recalling that the TDP had asked the Centre to form a separate Telangana state in 2008, Naidu accused the Congress of politicising the issue but refused to comment further on the matter. He also evaded all questions about his party's future in Telangana and the simmering protests in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions against the Congress's decision to divide the state.

The former CM appealed to the Centre to do justice to the Telugu people in both the new states.

OneIndia News