The lightning speed with which the NDA government decided to revise the India’s map incorporating Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh has taken many by surprise.
Though Survey of India released the first redrawn political map of India depicting the newly formed Union Territories and Kashmir and Ladakh on October 31, it did not bother about the protests over omission of Amaravati as the capital of AP. It only mentioned Hyderabad as the administrative capital of AP and Telangana.
While the Centre remained silent on the missing of Amaravati, the ruling YSR Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party traded charges against each other.
The YSRC blamed it on the TDP for not notifying Amaravati as the capital by issuing a gazette notification when Chandrababu Naidu was in power, but the TDP alleged that the YSR Congress government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had indicated to the Centre that it was shifting capital from Amaravati to elsewhere; hence, the name was omitted in the map.
But within a day of TDP MP Galla Jayadev raised the issue in Lok Sabha on Thursday, stating that the people of AP were hurt due to omission of Amaravati as the capital, the Centre responded quickly and rectified the “error” in the map.
Sources in Delhi said there is more to the Centre’s response than what meets the eye.
“The decision to include Amaravati’s name in the map comes at a time when there were reports that the Jagan government is planning to shift the capital from Amaravati. It might be a strategy of the Centre to bring pressure on the Jagan government to retain the capital at Amaravati,” sources said.
Secondly, it could also be an indication to BJP’s changed equations toward the TDP.
“The way Galla Jayadevi put forth the request and the Centre responded to the same within hours may be an indication to the BJP’s soft corner towards the TDP. It will also give strengthen to Naidu’s campaign against Jagan government for neglecting Amaravati,” sources said.
In any case, even if the Jagan government shifts the capital towards Mangalagiri-Guntur, its name will not be changed.
It will remain Amaravati; so, the name will remain in the map without any changes, unless of course the government decides to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam or some other place.
