Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Approves Draft Bill To Abolish Legislative Council; Three Capitals Plan Now Looks Feasible

Andhra Pradesh cabinet has approved a draft bill seeking to abolish the legislative council in the state, reports India Today.

The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held today (27 January).

Criticising the move, opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar reportedly said, "This is not a government, it is YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. It shows there are no constitutional values and no respect for any constitutional bodies."

It should be noted that, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council was revived in 2007 by Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and 13 years down the line his son and the state’s Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy now contemplates to abolish it.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has been forced to think of abolishing the council revived by his father because it has proved to be a stumbling block for his government to go ahead with its plan to create three capitals for the state.

Opposition leader Naidu favours a grand mega capital at Amaravati but Reddy says that huge amount of money, which can be spent for various development projects, cannot be wasted on just a single city.

The moment Reddy’s party YSR Congress came to power in May last year, he made it clear that Amaravati will not be the sole capital of the state. Instead, Andhra Pradesh will have three capitals.

In order to execute his plans, Reddy moved two bills in the state assembly last week — one for creation of three capitals and the other for scrapping the act — to make Amaravati the capital.

While the assembly cleared the bills, the council or the Upper House, proved to be a stumbling block.