VIJAYAWADA: The Union govt has initiated the process to bring a Bill proposing to amend the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014, for the inclusion of Amaravati as the capital of residual state of Andhra Pradesh.According to sources, the law ministry has already approved the proposal sent by the state govt, and it will be placed before the Union Cabinet soon. Once the Cabinet approves the proposal, a draft bill will be introduced in Parliament to amend Section 5(2) of the Reorganisation Act. As Hyderabad ceased to be the common capital for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 10 years after the bifurcation of the state, and there was no mention of the capital of AP in the Reorganisation Act, a legal void was created.The issue gained prominence after the previous YSRCP govt (2019-24) came up with a three-capital formula and proposed to shift major functions of the capital city to Visakhapatnam and Kurnool.The move faced resistance from farmers, who had given their land for construction of Amaravati. The TDP govt (2014-19) had made farmers stakeholders in the project after they agreed to part with their land.
