Lok Sabha passes bill to recognise Amaravati as Andhra's sole capital. Why is it important?

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like The lower house of the Parliament passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, on Wednesday which seeks to recongnise Amaravati as the sole capital of the state with support from both treasury and opposition benches. After becoming a law, Amravati will be recognised as the only and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024 (Sansad TV)However, the bill did face opposition from the YSR Congress Party in Lok Sabha, which also staged a walk out in protest when the bill was being passed. After becoming a law, Amaravati will be recognised as the only and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024, with no possibility of further bid to change the decision. The bill was passed through a voice note in Lok Sabha. As Telugu Desam Party leader chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's dream of making Amaravati the sole capital of the state comes to fruition, the aspiration holds a significant history and a major step towards the future of the state. Ever since Andhra's split into two states with formation of Telangana in 2014, the state has been vying for a permanent and stable capital, which has remained a matter of contention for around a decade. According to the provisions of Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was designated as the common capital between the two states for not more than 10 years, following which, Hyderabad would remain the capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would have a new capital. However, the law did not explicitly name that capital. Naidu became the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after its split and vouched to make Amaravati as the capital of the state. In a major project, Naidu even acquired land spanning around 30,000 acres for the construction of the capital through land pooling. However, the project was met with a major setback when in 2019, Naidu lost to YSRCP and Jagan Reddy became the chief minister of the state. Under his leadership, Reddy scrapped the Amaravati capital project and proposed to make three capitals of the state - Visakhapatnam as administrative capital, Amaravati as legislative capital, and Kurnool as judicial capital under Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020. However, things again took a turn in 2024 when Naidu returned to power in the state, particularly after spending 14 days in judicial custody in connection to the alleged multi-crore corruption case. Upon his return , Naidu reclaimed his bid of making Amaravati the sole capital and said, “In our government, there will be no games under the guise of three capitals. Our capital is Amaravati. Amaravati is the capital," he had said. Now under the new amendment bill passed in Lok Sabha today, the intention is to clarify any ambiguity over Andhra Pradesh’s capital under central law. “If passed by Parliament, the amendment would mark a major legislative step in reinforcing Amaravati’s status as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh,” said an official statement. Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times' newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we've got you covered.Read More