The 2019–2024 Amaravati protests, simply known as Amaravati protests, were demonstrations in the Indian state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

triggered by the idea of changing the one capital of

Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...

already identified and developed partially, to three capitals of Amaravati,

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

and

Kurnool Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema". Kurnool is also famous for Diamond hunting as diamonds ca ...

by the

Government of Andhra Pradesh The Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as GoAP, is the Administrative division, state government and the administrative body responsible for the governance of the States of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Amaravati is the capital ...

. This led to concerns that the decision would create chaos and insecurity for farmers who gave their fertile agricultural lands to the government in 29 villages of

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

. The protests began in Mandadam,

Thullur Thulluru is a Village in Guntur district of Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located at a distance of 4 km from Krishna River and was a village in Thulluru mandal of Guntur district, prior to its denotification as gram panchayat. D ...

, Uddandarayunipalem on 18 December 2019. In a few days, the protests spread across

Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Andhra Pradesh Capital Region (ISO: Āndhra Pradēś Rājadhāni Prāntaṁ) is the metropolitan area of the capital city of Andhra Pradesh in India. The region is spread across the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu, NTR, Bapatla and Eluru ...

, in

. On 17 December 2020, series of events were done to mark the protests' anniversary. The 1,631-days long protests ended on 12 June 2024. The decision was taken after

N. Chandrababu Naidu Nara Chandrababu Naidu (; born 20 April 1950), commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political histor ...

was sworn-in as the

chief minister of Andhra Pradesh The chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but '' de facto'' executive authority rests with the ch ...

for the fourth time on this day, and announced that Amaravati will be continued as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

Background

2014–2018

The TDP government (2014-19) claimed to build the region into a ''world-class capital city'' reflecting the state's historical and cultural heritage. It was designed by the Singaporean company, with the masterplan being prepared by two

Singapore government The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the President but exercised on the advice of the Cabinet le ...

appointed consultants and other international consultants in association with both governments in order to develop ''India's Singapore''. The foundation stone was laid for

, by the

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, Former Chief minister

Nara Chandrababu Naidu Nara Chandrababu Naidu (; born 20 April 1950), commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political history ...

and the Former Chief Justice of India

Ranjan Gogoi Ranjan Gogoi (born 18 November 1954) is an Indian retired jurist and advocate who served as the 46th Chief Justice of India from 2018 to 2019. He is currently a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member of the Rajya Sabha, having been List of n ...

has laid foundation stone for

Andhra Pradesh High Court The High Court of Andhra Pradesh is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves the judicial duties of Andhra Pradesh. History The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established in the year 1954 when the state was formed ...

. However, the Capital city was planned in rich fertile coastal plains on the banks of

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

; about 60 km from

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and said to be designed to have 51% of green spaces and 10% of water bodies. Thus, the new riverfront capital took away eminently cultivable land from farmers. For the first time in India, the farmers of

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

districts had given 33,000 acres of land, to the

on land pooling for Amaravati. It had tied up around Rs 17,500 crore with the Housing and Urban Development Corporation,

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Andhra Bank Andhra Bank was a medium-sized public sector bank (PSB) of India, with a network of 2885 branches, 4 extension counters, 38 satellite offices and 3798 automated teller machines (ATMs) as of 31 March 2019. During 2011–12, the bank entered th ...

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank and international financial institution that aims to collectively improve economic and social outcomes in Asia. It is the world's second largest multi-lateral d ...

and planned to raise the balance through public-private partnerships, investments, bonds, lease rental discounting also, it had estimated a budget of over Rs 1 lakh crore for the greenfield capital city. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, has granted only 2,500 crore and further promised to grant more in future. But, the present government had stopped major projects and contracts backed by

APCRDA The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is an urban planning agency of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The APCRDA was established under the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region ...

and Andhra Pradesh Development Corporation Limited (ADCL), stating that the previous government has committed

Abuse of information Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

Insider trading Insider trading is the trading of a public company's stock or other securities (such as bonds or stock options) based on material, nonpublic information about the company. In various countries, some kinds of trading based on insider informati ...

on several properties in

. Many construction works and road works at amaravati have come to a grinding halt, even as those undertaken by private companies continue albeit slowly, as the government had appointed several committees for review.

2019–2024

In July 2019, the

World bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

dropped the $300 million Amaravati capital project, and released statement that says "India withdrawn request for financing Amaravati project." After the World bank, Beijing-based

has also withdrawn $200 million funding for the

capital city project and leads the state government into financial crisis for construction of Amaravati. In November 2019, the Singapore consortium comprising Ascendas-Singbridge and

Sembcorp Sembcorp Industries is a Singaporean state-owned energy and urban development company. Sembcorp's marine division provided a variety of services, including the engineering and construction of offshore platforms for oil extraction, until it w ...

withdrew from the capital city startup area project, after the state government decided not to proceed with the project owing to its other priorities. On building the capital city at Amaravati, Urban development minister

Botsa Satyanarayana Botsa Satyanarayana (born 9 July 1958) is an Indian politician from Andhra Pradesh. He belonged to the Indian National Congress until 2015 and he joined the YSR Congress on 7 June 2015. He is a former cabinet minister for Municipal Administrati ...

had said: "Our priority is not to build

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It is not our priority and not in our capacity also. It is not possible for us to build" and had stated that the Amaravati region was not conducive for building a greenfield capital city and that it was prone to floods. Citing the financial condition of

due to the economic slowdown and alleged misdeeds of the previous regime, Finance minister Buggana Rajendranath had expressed inability to continue work on several large projects of Amaravati conceived by the previous government. In December 2019, Chief minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy announced that the Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals namely as

Coastal Andhra Coastal Andhra, also known as Kosta Andhra (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kōstā Āndhra), is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, comprising the coastal districts of the state between the East ...

as the legislative capital with the state assembly,

Uttarandhra North Andhra or Uttara Andhra (IAST: ''Uttara Āndhra''), also known as Kalinga Andhra (IAST: ''Kaḷiṅga Āndhra''), is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is between the Eastern Ghats and the coast of the Bay of B ...

as the administrative capital with the state secretariat and

Rayalaseema Rayalaseema (IAST: ''Rāyalasīma'') is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises four southern districts of the State, from prior to the districts reorganisation in 2022, namely Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa, and ...

as the judicial capital with the high court. This threw everybody into confusion, including foreign investors who had hedged their bets on the swift development of Amaravati. The farmers, residents of APCR have condemned the comments and dragged into protests against the government. The act has been challenged in

, which ordered to maintain status quo until the court completes its hearing. The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, led by

Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Yeduguri Sandinti Jagan Mohan Reddy (born 21 December 1972), also known mononymously as Jagan, is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Pulivendula Assembly constituency in the Andhra ...

, withdrew the act, when the high court hearing reached the final stage. The chief minister, however, said his government would bring a better and more complete bill. The protesters under the banner of Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi (APS) and Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Amaravati received support from all the political parties barring the ruling YCP when they held their long marches across Andhra Pradesh seeking support for their agitation. On 5 March 2022, High court ruled that the government can not abandon development of Amaravati as capital city after farmers parted with 33,000 acres of land against the agreement with APCRDA to develop it as the capital city and ₹15,000 crore was sunk in it over development expenditure. It asked the government to develop Amaravati within six months. When the government appealed in the Supreme court, it got a stay on the judgement regarding developing the city within six months. Supreme court posted the case to 11 July 2023 for hearing. Meanwhile, Jaganmohan Reddy announced that

will become the new capital when he addressed a meeting on 31 January 2023, relating to an upcoming investment summit in Vizag. The Supreme court is set to hear it in April 2024, following its decision on 3 January 2024 about the government's request for expedited hearing.

Timeline

Timeline of the events

* 2 June 2014 :*The

bifurcated by carving out the new state called,

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. * 8 June 2014 :*

Chandrababu Naidu Nara Chandrababu Naidu (; born 20 April 1950), commonly known as CBN, is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 13th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He holds the record of longest-serving Chief Minister in the political history ...

became chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and took office of residuary Andhra Pradesh. * 31 December 2014 :*The

notified an area covering 7068 sq. km as the broader Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and the 122 sq. km as the Capital City region. :*The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014 came into force. * 1 April 2015 :*Andhra Pradesh cabinet approved the decision to name the capital city as ''Amaravati''. * 25 May 2015 :*The

Singapore Government The government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to consist of the President and the Executive. Executive authority of Singapore is vested in the President but exercised on the advice of the Cabinet le ...

has offered the master plan for Amaravati. * 22 October 2015 :*The

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

has laid foundation stone for the new capital

along with

, K. Chandrasekhar Rao,

Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman (born 18 August 1959) is an Indian economist, politician and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) serving as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs of the Government of India since 2019. ...

and

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He has also served as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, minister of Housing and Urban Pover ...

on Amaravati foundation ceremony. * 1 July 2017 :*Chief minister, ministers and senior officers had officially started functioning from Amaravati. * 3 February 2019 :*The

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India (CJI) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the President of India to appoint, as recommended by the outg ...

has inaugurated the

High Court of Andhra Pradesh The High Court of Andhra Pradesh is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves the judicial duties of Andhra Pradesh. History The High Court of Andhra Pradesh was established in the year 1954 when the state was formed ...

at Amaravati. * 18 March 2019 :*The

have commenced operations from Amaravati. * 30 May 2019 :*

have lost the elections and Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress formed new government. * 23 July 2019 :*

have announced pulling out of Amaravati project. * 13 September 2019 :*The New Government appointed, an Expert panel committee headed by G.N. Rao to take a review of the developmental plans initiated in Amaravati and also to suggest comprehensive development strategy for all-round development of the state including the capital. * 11 November 2019 :*The

backed consortium have dropped the Amaravati startup area project. * 17 December 2019 :*

Jagan Jagan is an Indian actor and comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foo ...

had announced the ''three capital'' proposal in the

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ( Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన సభ, ISO: ''Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. ...

by taking

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's capital model into consideration. * 20 December 2019 :*The six-member expert panel comprising urban planning experts, have submitted its report to the

Chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Jaganmohan Reddy. :*G. N. Rao further stated that, the panel suggested moving 'some of the capital functions' to other areas in form of Decentralized Government. * 29 December 2019 :* The

also constituted a High power committee to discuss on G. N. Rao Panel and BCG group reports due to widespread public blacklash. * 3 January 2020 :* The

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the "Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three large ...

had submitted the report to the

and supported the idea of three capitals. * 31 July 2020 :* Biswabhusan Harichandan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh approved the repeal of APCRDA and Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation bill * 17 December 2020 :* Public meeting is held near the foundation ceremony area ( Uddandarayunipalem) to commemorate the one year of the protests. * 23 November 2021 :* The state government withdrew the 3-capital bill, leading protesters to believe that the government gave into their demands. However, hours later,

Jaganmohan Reddy announced that the government would write a "better and more comprehensive" 3-capital bill. * 3 March 2022 :*The

directs the state government to develop Amaravati as the sole capital. However, this is not recognized by the state government. * 12 September 2022 :* Amaravati Protests turns 1000 days. :* Farmers began ''Maha Padayatra'' across

. The protests which began in Amaravati will end on 11 November 2022 at the

Arasavalli Sun Temple Arasavalli Sri Surya Narayana Swamy Devalayam is a temple for Lord Surya, the solar deity, at Arasavalli in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Arasavalli Village 1 km east of Srikakulam. It is believed that the temple ...

. * 28 November 2022 :*The

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

stays the previous decision by the Andhra Pradesh High Court to develop Amaravati as the sole capital, stating, "Is there no separation of power in the state of Andhra Pradesh? How can a high court begin acting executive?"

Timeline of the protests

* 17 December 2019 :*Hours after Jagan's announcement, violent demonstrations erupt in

, especially in

, and other areas in the capital region. * 18 December 2019 :*Farmers held demonstrations on the roads with the cans of pesticides by citing suicide if the Jagan's decision wouldn't withdrawn. :*Thousands of farmers and labour union leaders had called for

bandh Bandh () is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India and Nepal. It is similar to a general strike. During a bandh, a political party or a community declare a general strike. For example, a ''Bharat (t ...

across Mandadam,

Velagapudi Velagapudi is a village in Guntur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a village in Thullur Mandal of Guntur district before its denotification as Gram Panchayat. Velagapudi is also the home to the temporary Secretariat of A ...

, Venkatapalem, Krishnayapalem. * 19 December 2019 :*Various public and private departments, stores had openly supported the

, and heavy traffic jam obstructed many government vehicles as protestors gathered on the roads. :*Protestors also blocked

APSRTC The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (abbreviated as APSRTC) is the state-owned road transport corporation in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its headquarters is located at NTR Administ ...

buses moving towards Andhra Pradesh Secretariat and Amaralingeswara temple despite the deployment of a huge posse of police in the 29 villages. * 11 October 2020 :*Various farmers, and members of the Amaravati Mahila JAC hold a rally from

and raising slogans of 'Jai Amaravati'. :* Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao participated in a farmers' rally held at Mylavaram. * 15 December 2022 :* APCC President Gidugu Rudra Raju made a visit to the Vijayawada railway station, in solidarity with the protesters.

Protests and demonstrations

Amaravati farmers took to the streets with the announcement of

Jagan's capital decentralization. Reactionary protests were held as well across the

and

districts of

. They are protesting on the road with cans of pesticides and have erred in moving the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

and High Court from the already all-encompassing Amaravati. Farmers are demanding that the entire administration of government to stay where it is.

In popular culture

Rajadhani Files, Telugu movie was inspired by the events around

protests.

References

External links

G.249 N.455 Revenue Dept – Andhra Pradesh Capital Recognisation – orders – Issued
– The Andhra Pradesh Gazette. 5 June 2018.
G.1119 N.182 MA & UD Dept Amaravati Land Allotment (Amendment) – orders – Issued
– The Andhra Pradesh Gazette. 8 March 2018. *
Go.No.RT-934 MA & UD Dept - A.P. Reorganization – Formation of New Capital for the State of A.P.– Website Design, Development and Maintenance for the New Capital City of Andhra Pradesh – Permission accorded – orders – Issued.
' – APCRDA. 2 December 2014.
A.P. Reorganization Act, 2014
– AP Legislature. 18 February 2014. * – PRSIndia.org. 18 February 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amaravati protests, 2019-2023 2019 protests 2020 protests 2021 protests 2022 protests 2023 protests 2024 protests Protests in India Politics of Andhra Pradesh History of Amaravati History of Andhra Pradesh (2014–present) 2019 in Indian politics 2020 in Indian politics 2021 in Indian politics 2022 in Indian politics 2023 in Indian politics 2024 in Indian politics 2010s in Amaravati 2020s in Amaravati December 2019 in India January 2020 in India February 2020 in India March 2020 in India April 2020 in India May 2020 in India June 2020 in India July 2020 in India August 2020 in India September 2020 in India November 2020 in India December 2020 in India October 2020 in India January 2021 in India February 2021 in India March 2021 in India April 2021 in India May 2021 in India June 2021 in India July 2021 in India August 2021 in India September 2021 in India October 2021 in India November 2021 in India December 2021 in India January 2022 in India February 2022 in India March 2022 in India April 2022 in India May 2022 in India June 2022 in India July 2022 in India August 2022 in India September 2022 in India October 2022 in India November 2022 in India December 2022 in India January 2023 in India February 2023 in India March 2023 in India April 2023 in India May 2023 in India June 2023 in India July 2023 in India August 2023 in India September 2023 in India October 2023 in India November 2023 in India December 2023 in India January 2024 in India February 2024 in India March 2024 in India April 2024 in India May 2024 in India June 2024 in India Political crises in India