Naidu keen to rule from Guntur - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: Telugu Desam Party president and Chief Minister designate of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu would run the administration from Guntur and is likely to establish a camp office there.

Naidu wants to be closer to the people of Andhra Pradesh where a new capital has to be built. Though Hyderabad would remain common capital for the next 10 years for two states, Naidu wants to be closer to the people of the region and he is planning to stay three days in Guntur every week. If the recent statements of the TDP supremo are any indication, the new capital will come up somewhere between Vijayawada and Guntur.

According to party sources, the oath taking ceremony of Naidu as Chief Minister will be held in Guntur on June 2. Naidu is also planning to have Chief Minister's camp office at Nagarjuna University and function from there for three days a week.

He is also planning to have the DGP camp office in the neighbouring Mangalagiri. Naidu, according to sources, is reluctant to function from the divided secretariat here, from where he ruled the undivided state for more than nine years.

Even during election campaign, Naidu gave clear indications to this effect. He said that he would build a world class capital on the lines of Hyderabad and in the meantime would prefer to work 'under the tree' rather than from Hyderabad.

In fact, much before the election results were declared, the capital issue had been in the news and many believe that, Naidu would prefer Vijayawada as capital of the residual Andhra Pradesh. Besides the geographical advantages, the political and caste equations too favour Vijayawada.

Though there was some speculation in the media that the new capital might be located near Ongole, Naidu is believed to be keen on developing the new capital about 30 Km from Vijayawada.On the other hand, leaders from the costal belt stepped up their campaign for Vijayawada ' Guntur stretch. Krishna district TDP president and Mylavaram MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and others from the Kamma community have already come out openly in support of Vijayawada.

They say Vijayawada would be the natural choice to host the capital as it is centrally located and convenient for people of both north coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema regions. The area beyond Guntur and closer to Ongole is dominated by Reddys and analysts feel Naidu may not prefer it for obvious reasons.

Meanwhile architects and experts say it would be easy to complete the task without wasting much time and the money as the area not only centrally located but was also well 'developed to host the new capital.

Some say, that Nagarjuna University located between Vijayawada and Guntur was best suited to host the offices of the new state and the University auditorium can be used as Assembly for the time being.

It may be recalled here that the Sivaramakrishnan committee appointed by the Centre to locate a suitable capital for residual Andhra Pradesh has made it clear that it would only look into the technical aspects of setting up a new capital, leaving the final decision to the state and the central governments.