Vijayawada will be Andhra Pradesh capital: Naidu

While the Opposition, including the YSR Congress, called for a debate and an all party meeting on the issue, Naidu announced it promising three mega cities and 14 smart cities around Vijaywada.

Earlier, the Sivaramakrishnan Committee set up by the previous UPA government at the centre had opposed the idea for ecological reasons.

Hyderabad is the capital of both the new state of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh now.

Vijayawada is the home to the prosperous Kamma community which is a solid support base of Naidu.

On June 1, 2014, Telangana became the 29th State of India, carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

Erstwhile Andhra Pradesh was thus divided into Telangana with 10 districts while the residual State of Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) has 13 districts.

Telangana  was part of Princely state of Hyderabad  ruled by the Nizams during the British Raj till 1947, and later until 1948, when it joined the Union of India. In 1956, Hyderabad state was dissolved and Telangana was merged with Andhra State to form the state of Andhra Pradesh.

With the formation of the state, now Hyderabad  serves as the joint capital of Telangana and  Andhra Pradesh for up to ten years.