YSR Congress party state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy’s statement that party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy would not revive the three capitals plan and Amaravati would remain the capital city of Andhra Pradesh evoked sharp reactions from the Telugu Desam Party.
The TDP leaders are wondering whether Sajjala had made the statement on three capitals and Amaravati with full approval of Jagan Mohan Reddy.
“Sajjala is a senior leader, so his statements reflect the party’s stance,” TDP leader and state municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana said.
“When I make any statement on Amaravati in the capacity of the minister, it represents the stand of our chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. So, we may have to assume that whatever Sajjala said about three capitals or Amaravati, he must be speaking on behalf of Jagan,” he said.
TDP spokesman and former minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad said Sajjala’s statement seems to have been made to mislead the people.
“Jagan must come to the state assembly and openly declare Amaravati as the capital, instead of making his party stooges to make statements,” he said.
Narayana accused Jagan of having no clarity on the capital issue.
“When he was in the opposition, Jagan supported Amaravati in the assembly and demanded that it required at least 30,000 acres. But after coming to power in 2019, he played political games with the three-capitals proposal. Now, his party leaders are playing the double game again. This flip-flop is unacceptable," Narayana said.
He warned that if YSRCP continued such doublespeak, even the 11 Assembly seats in the region would slip away.
He added that Naidu’s vision is to develop Amaravati, Vijayawada, Mangalagiri, Tenali, and Guntur together into a future mega city.