The question of the capital
When the state was divided in 2014 to create an independent Telangana, it raised questions about a state capital for Andhra Pradesh that are still unresolved seven years later. Hyderabad is in the Telangana region, so it would clearly become the capital of the new Telangana. Which city, then, would be the capital of Andhra Pradesh?
The agreement allowed for a ten-year transition period, from 2014-2024, during which Hyderabad would continue as joint capital for both states. Andhra Pradesh’s government at the time, led by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), chose the city of Amaravati, on the Krishna river in coastal Andhra, as the state’s new capital.
Amaravati is very different from Hyderabad, with a population of only just over 100,000 in the city itself and nearly 6 million in the surrounding metropolitan area. Compared to Hyderabad, a mega-city with a population of over 10 million, it’s very small. As soon as the decision was taken to make it the capital, development projects started. Small cities can grow fast, with enough investment and opportunities.
But everything changed in 2019: when Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, leader of the YSR Congress party, was elected as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, he announced that the state would have not one but three capitals: Amaravati would remain the legislative capital, while Visakhapatnam would become the executive capital and Kurnool the judicial capital. As a result, thousands of farmers who had contributed their land for the development of Amaravati took to the streets in protest; two years later, the issue has still not been satisfactorily resolved.