The last hope of YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to project Visakhapatnam as the capital city has been shattered with the state high court on Friday refusing to allow shifting of the camp office of CMO.
The Supreme Court recently refused to grant a stay on the state high court judgement of March 3, 2022, declaring Amaravati as the state capital and deferred the hearing on the state government’s petition to April, thereby stalling the attempt of Jagan to create three capitals during his present term.
However, Jagan was pinning his last hope on moving the camp offices of the CM and other ministers to Visakhapatnam, so that he could convince the people before the coming elections about his sincerity in shifting of administration to the port city, at least partially.
But this hope also came to a nought on Friday with the high court declaring that the directions of the single judge preventing the relocation of offices to Visakhapatnam will continue.
A high court bench said it cannot lift the orders issued by the single judge. The bench mentioned that a decision about who would hear the appeal would be made soon.
As the advocate general tried to explain the rationale behind relocation of capital offices and Camp Office to Visakhapatnam, the court directed the government to provide details on the number of offices, officers moving to Visakhapatnam, and the designated area for the relocation.
The farmers of Amaravati had filed a petition in the high court alleging that the state government was shifting its capital in the guise of development of Uttar Andhra. A few days ago, the single judge bench of the High Court sent the petitions to a three-judge bench.
The YSRCP government told the court that the offices would not be moved until the three-judge bench passes its orders.
