Rally organised in support of setting up Visakhapatnam as executive capital

YSRCP leaders organised rallies on Friday in various parts of Visakhapatnam in support of the government’s proposal of setting up the executive capital in Visakhapatnam. Several MLAs and constituency leaders led the rallies in North, South, East and West constituencies of Visakhapatnam. YSRCP leaders K.K. Raju, A Vijaya Nirmala, Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) Chairman Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao, and several other leaders were seen rallying in the city, urging the State Government to shift the executive capital to Visakhapatnam soon.

Speaking at a rally in the Madhurawada area, the Minister of Tourism M Srinivas Rao said Visakhapatnam would be an ideal choice to set up the executive capital since seven of the total thirteen districts in A.P. were backward, including the Northern districts. The Minister added that choosing Vizag would boost development in the districts. He further opined that that decentralised development is the way forward for Andhra Pradesh to progress.

Apart from YSRCP, several other organisations have held candle rallies and campaigns in support of the newly proposed capital, even before an official announcement has come in from the government. The Congress party demanded that the government must announce capital status to Visakhapatnam immediately. Assembly speaker Tammineni Seetaram also supported the move.

The State Government is yet to announce its final decision on which city would be chosen as Andhra Pradesh’s executive capital. As per the government’s earlier statements, official announcements regarding the capital would be made once the third committee drafted to advise the leaders submits its report. The committee would study both the Boston Consulting Group and G N Rao committee’s reports and submit a comprehensive report to the government. Both the reports advised the Andhra Pradesh state government to pick Visakhapatnam as the capital, considering financial and geographical factors.