Politicos shift focus to capital question

HYDERABAD: General polls over, Semandhra politicos are again raising the issue of the capital of residuary Andhra Pradesh.

Former minister TG Venkatesh has begun to arouse regional passions over the issue. Venkatesh, who had contested the just-concluded general polls on TDP ticket from Kurnool, has started demanding that the Centre make Kurnool as the capital.

Speaking to reporters in Kurnool district on Sunday, the maverick politico, who had earlier floated Rayalaseema Hakkula Porata Vedika (Forum for the rights of Rayalaseema) prior to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, had taken strong exception to the way Sivaramakrishnan Committee is visiting Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Guntur and other cities in Seemandhra, without considering Kurnool.

'I don't understand why Sivaramakrishnan Committee is visiting all other cities in Seeamandhra without having a look at Kurnool, which was the capital of the then Andhra State,' he said.

Throwing his weight behind the newly formed 'Rayala Andhra Rajadhani Sadhana Samithi', whose aim is to exert pressure on the Centre to restore capital status to Kurnool, the senior politico said he would not rest until Kurnool is made the capital of truncated AP.

'Kurnool was the capital of the then Andhra State before its merger with Telangana. As Andhra Pradesh has been bifurcated into Andhra and Telangana now, Kurnool should again be made the capital of Andhra State,' he demanded.

He threatened the Centre with leading an agitation for statehood to Rayalaseema if Kurnool is not made the capital.

'At any case, Kurnool should be made the new capital of Seemandhra. If the coastal Andhra leaders want, they can keep the second capital of the State in their region,' he said.

At the same time, similar demands in support of making their respective places the new capital are gaining momentum.

For instance, some students belonging to tribal organisations, in Tirupati on Sunday, undertook demonstrations demanding that the Centre declare the temple town as the new capital of Seemandhra.

The capital demands are being raised at a time when Sivaramakrishnan Committee, which was set up to identify a suitable place for the new capital, is touring Seemandhra.

When the committee members visited Visakhapatnam, local politicos such as former minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao submitted a memorandum to the committee requesting it to recommend to the Centre to make Visakhapatnam the new capital.

Similarly, TDP leader and film actor M Murali Mohan submitted another memorandum to the Committee to locate the new capital at Rajahmundry, when the members of the committee visited the town on Sunday.