AP chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that he would shift his family to Visakhapatnam in September. He said he would live in the city from September this year.

Jagan Mohan Reddy made this comment at a public meeting in Srikakulam district on Wednesday after laying the foundation stone for the Mulapeta port, which was earlier called as Bhavanapadu port. The state government had renamed the port recently on the request of the local people.

The chief minister said that Visakhapatnam is accepted by everyone in the state and he would soon start living and working from this city. This was as part of his plans for the decentralization of administration. The executive capital of the city would start functioning from September this year, he said.

The chief minister had made a similar statement at the recent Global Investment Summit held in Visakhapatnam. He told the investors that he would start functioning from the city from July this year. However, it is not known what made the chief minister change the decision to September from July.

Several ministers hitherto have been making statements in favour of shifting the administration to Visakhapatnam as the executive capital of the state. There were leaks to the media in the last two years that the chief minister would shift his base to Visakhapatnam after Ugadi. Thus, two Ugadis have gone and Jagan Mohan Reddy is still operating from Tadepalli in Amaravati.

There are cases pending in the supreme court on the Amaravati issue. The farmers are opposing shifting of any branch of the capital from Amaravati. They are opposed to the three capitals plans of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and the legal battle is ongoing in the apex court.

In this background Jagan Mohan Reddy’s statement that he would start living from Visakhapatnam from September assumes significance.