YSRCP push ‘Mavigun’ capital proposal aggressively

THe YSR us congress company has decided to sharply crowd for company chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s proposal of projecting Machilipatnam-Vijayawada-Guntur (Mavigun) corridor as an alternative capital model, notwithstanding the Centre’s statutory approval to the state government’s proposal to designate Amaravati as the capital.The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was passed in the Parliament in the first week of April.Jagan mooted the proposal at a press conference on April 1, when the Lok Sabha passed the bill.Describing it as a “Plan B” for the capital region, the YSRCP chief suggested that instead of confining the capital to Amaravati, the government should consider declaring the 110-kilometre urban corridor stretching from Machilipatnam to Vijayawada and Guntur as the state’s capital area and argued that such a model would unlock long-term economic and infrastructural growth.The proposal reportedly even YSRCP leaders by surprise. “We thought it was a sort of sarcastic attack on the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government, which was seeking a statutory status to Amaravati. But we soon realised that he is serious about his new concept,” a YSRCP leader said, on condition of anonymity.Leaders in the ruling coalition also reportedly did not take Jagan’s proposal seriously. He was trolled heavily on social media after the initial proposal. “When he was in power, he aggressively pitched for three capital cities for AP – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, judicial capital at Kurnool and legislative capital at Amaravati —which was rejected by the people. Why didn’t he talk about the Machilipatnam-Vijayawada-Guntur corridor then?” TDP official spokesperson N Vijay Kumar asked.“He seems to have gone mad. He is trying to confuse the people with his crazy ideas like Mavigun,” chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters at the party office on Saturday, adding that the development of Amaravati alone would be a fitting reply to Jagan.However, for the last two days, Jagan and his party leaders have been seriously campaigning in support of Mavigun idea, indicating that the party would seriously push the proposal, if it is voted back to power again in 2029.At the party meeting held at Tadepalli on Thursday, Jagan made it clear that “Mavigun” was not a non-serious thought, adding that it was backed by strong reasoning. “We proposed that the 110 km Machilipatnam–Vijayawada–Guntur corridor be developed into a capital city as it is close to a national highway, has a fully developed port, and an international airport. It is an economic and feasible model, which can be developed at a cost just 10% of what is being spent on Amaravati,” he said.He accused Naidu of splurging money on Amaravati only for the sake of kickbacks from the contractors. “In order to prevent such corruption and safeguard the state’s future, we proposed Mavigun, which is being well-received by the people,” Jagan said.Other YSRCP leaders have taken up the cause in the last three days. YSRCP state coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy on Friday asserted that Mavigun was a better alternative than Amaravati on all counts. “While Amaravati will take decades to develop into a capital city, Mavigun has all the facilities to function as the capital with least investment,” he said on Friday.The party leaders and cadre put up flex banners and posters near the party office at Tadepalli in Guntur with a new slogan “Raavali Jagan… Kaavali Mavigun,” (Come back Jagan come back, we want Mavigun) on the lines of “Raavali Jagan, Kaavali Jagan,” which played a major role in building emotional and electoral momentum before the 2019 assembly elections.Even the YSRCP social media activists have started actively propagating Mavigun concept on all forms of social media, while Jagan’s own media house Sakshi has been carrying stories in support of the new capital idea.“It now appears Mavigun isa systematic and coordinated push by YSRCP leaders, supporters and digital networks to repeatedly project it as a serious alternative capital model,” political analyst Srinivas Rao Manchala said.He said Jagan’s Mavigun idea should serve as a wake-up call for Naidu, who has taken Amaravati capital city for granted. “Now that the Centre has given a statutory approval for Amaravati, he should expedite the ongoing works. If he doesn’t achieve tangible progress in the next three years, there is every possibility that Jagan would dismantle the capital project altogether, if he is voted to power again,” Manchala said.According to him, Jagan seems to have no interest in developing Amaravati as the capital city. “That is why, he has been saying that he can undo what Naidu has done by adopting a resolution in the state assembly. There is no doubt that if he comes to power, his first decision may be to Amaravati’s development. That is why he and his party leaders are aggressively pushing the Mavigun proposal,” he said.