New Delhi, Apr 2: Parliament on Thursday passed a bill seeking to recognise Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod to it with a voice vote, and all parties except the YSRCP supporting the proposed legislation.
Replying to the debate on the bill in the upper house, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on March 28, 2026 passed a proposal requesting Government of India to grant statutory status to Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh by amending the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
He said the resolution passed by the Assembly requested for amendment in the Act, incorporating Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh with effect from June 2, 2024.
The minister congratulated the people of Andhra Pradesh with Amaravati as the new capital, hoping that the state reaches new heights of progress to contribute towards achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Speaking on the bill, Sanjay Kumar Jha of JD(U) said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are the most important and trusted allies of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) right from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government to the present Narendra Modi-led regime.
Supporting the bill, he said, Amaravati will emerge as the best capital of the country in the coming years due to the visionary leadership of Chandrababu Naidu.
Masthan Rao Yadav Beedha of the TDP said: “This bill is not just a legislation, it is a moral promise that our farmers’ sacrifices will not be forgotten. That our state’s identity will be strong. Our children’s future will be insured.”
The bill restores the dignity, aspiration and pride of the people of Andhra Pradesh. He said people of the state were left without clarity and without closure in February 2014 and after a lot of planning, Amaravati was chosen for its history, location and potential.
The TDP MP lauded the farmers of the state for giving up thousands of acres of their land to build the capital. “We will provide facilities like Singapore… We are creating opportunities for the people of Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu called it a “very emotional moment” for him. “This redefines the pride, the faith, this redefines the consciousness of the country it has on its democracy, on the leadership and the whole political system also… And this is something which has much stronger repercussions than looking at it as simply or merely regarding a subject of a state and its capital.”
He said that when Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated and Telangana was formed in 2014, it was for the first time in history that a new state got a capital and the other one was left out without a capital. He called it a historic day for the “entire Telugu community”.
YSRCP MP Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy meanwhile opposed the bill in its “present form”, and said, “it is not addressing the problems of 29,000 farmers, who have given 34,000 acres of farmland for Amaravati capital without any payment under land pooling”.
Participating in a debate, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said the step was delayed, and it took 12 years to recognise Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh’s capital.
“It is a shame we are discussing the AP Reorganisation Bill, which should have been discussed 12 years ago. It is actually a statement of national shame for the so called collective wisdom and intelligence of this House. It took 12 years to fulfill a commitment made on the floor of this House,” she said.
Supporting the bill, Paka Venkata Satyanarayana of BJP said people kept trust in Amaravati and Chandrababu Naidu, and the farmers donated 30,000 acres for land pooling.
Sandeep Kumar Pathak (Aam Aadmi Party) also expressed his party’s support to it. He however stressed that the House must reflect on how petty politics, political incompetence and policy confusion can destroy the nation.
He said the people of Andhra Pradesh have wished for Amaravati to be declared the capital of the state so the House must endorse it.
Sana Sathish Babu of TDP said Amaravati is not just the capital, it is the heartbeat of 5 crore people of Andhra Pradesh.
Ravi Chandra Vaddiraju of BRS also supported the bill.
Priyanka Chaturvedi of SS-UBT said,” I am happy to make my last speech of this term (Rajya Sabha) in solidarity with the people of Andhra Pradesh, especially the women and farmers of Amaravati for the long-awaited justice they sought from this country.”
“When this Parliament carved out the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, it carved out a new state and left it quite literally without a capital, without a secretariat, without an administrative ecosystem.
“So while Telangana was given Hyderabad, a ready, globally recognised city, Andhra Pradesh was given a promise. Today we are here to put a name to that promise and while we welcome that, this House must not allow itself to celebrate without also accounting for the long injustice.”
