3 capital for Andhra: Cabinet clears decks for development of Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool

Amravati, Jan 20: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Monday has cleared the decks for the development of Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as the legislative, executive and judicial capital cities respectively during the special Assembly session.

The Jagan Mohan Reddy government proposes to shift the state Secretariat and the Chief Minister's office to Visakhapatnam and the High Court to Kurnool.

It also gave its nod for the APCRDA Repeal Bill, 2020, paving the way for the formation of Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority in its place.

Meanwhile, several opposition leaders were either detained or placed under house arrest in Andhra Pradesh as protests rocked Amaravati and surrounding districts, ahead of a crucial Assembly session.

There was high tension at Tullur village as a large number of farmers and other villagers tried to march towards the Assembly in response to the 'chalo Assembly' protest called by main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Joint Action Committee (JAC) fighting for the protection of Amaravati as the state capital.

Earlier on Sunday, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu had urged Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy not to shift the state capital from Amaravati, warning that about Rs 50,000 crore committed investment could be withdrawn and also make farmers suffer.