The experts committee formed by the Central Government to look into the location of capital for the residual Andhra Pradesh will go by the merits of a city and in that case Visakhapatnam should be its choice, Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader T. Subbarami Reddy said here on Tuesday while strongly backing the city’s claim.
Instead of constructing a capital, it was better to develop an existing city and since Visakhapatnam was the largest city in the (combined) AP after Hyderabad it was better to establish the capital here. The city also has many other advantages like having good road, rail, air and sea connectivity; plenty of water available once the Polavaram project is completed, industrial climate, power supply, major hospitals and universities, etc., he said at a press conference. He explained all these advantages in a memorandum submitted to members of the experts committee during their visit to the city.
About the Congress not doing well in the recent series of polls, he said the party had seen many ups and downs but felt that its strength could not be disturbed during this low tide. People had believed other parties’ propaganda that Congress was responsible for bifurcation of the State but they would realise it later that all parties were party to the decision.
Party’s candidates in Assembly elections Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao, Pedada Ramani Kumari and Gunturu Narsimha Murthy, husband of G. Bharati Venkateswari, and city Congress president Behara Bhaskara Rao appreciated the support extended by Mr. Subbarami Reddy during the election campaign.
