It is distressing to see AP state Assembly/Council’s proceedings, as people of AP are taken for a ride, by selfish politicians. When CM of AP introduced the New Bill for making Amaravati, only a legislative capital while shifting the Executive to Vizag, and recommending to shift the AP High Court To Kurnool, some of my friends from AP expressed happiness, saying that YS Jagan simply rocked, that’s OK, in democracy we should respect all opinions. If you analyse the reality, already several thousands of crores Of rupees, of taxpayer’s money has been spent on providing infrastructure in Amaravati. Does the current dispensation have the right to dissipate the precious money of the common man? Further, Decentralisation in modern parlance is a must. But does it mean one has core wings at 3 different places? With protesters at his doorstep and his intransigence, Mr. Reddy has a man-made crisis that he can ill-afford. His plan of having Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary at three different places could be well-intentioned and help him assuage feelings of all the places, but it’s ridden with challenges. With the functions of Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary, being interconnected, requiring swift approvals and quick transfer of files, governance is bound to suffer, a time lag, while efficiencies will be compromised. The exchequer too will be under additional fiscal stress owing to logistical expenses. The infrastructural costs of building new spaces will make a future dent on the state budget, though Reddy insists that the firming of Amaravati would have been much more expensive. Most importantly the movement of staff for allied or overlapping issues could end up disturbing the bureaucracy. Then there is a larger issue of loss of face among investors both global and domestic. Allegations of malpractices that the Reddy regime has been leveling against Naidu’s contracts have already scared the prospective investors.
The larger picture must be thought of by politicians rather than it being more a personal issue related to the prestige, pride, and political prospects of the political incumbent and his predecessor. Therefore in the present scenario, vis-a-vis the protests by farmers, it would be a better solution to defer the matter, for some time. And efforts should be made to include farmers and bring consensus with them before going ahead with the matter.
It’s very unfortunate, both at the Centre and states, the democratic process, is ignored, while mostly the decisions are unilateral.
The MP, Maharashtra, or Kashmir their position and AP are not comparable, as per my understanding is it’s because of seasonal reasons in Maharashtra, Himachal, and former J&K, etc have a second capital. Reddy’s test will now be in Upper House where his party doesn’t have absolute majority and TDP will be a thorn in the flesh. All the more reason for him to act prudently as BJP with Jenasena must be waiting for him to make mistakes.
