Assembly too may be shifted to Vij

Welcoming chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's decision to use Vijayawada as temporary capital of the state, AP assembly speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao on Saturday said he would discuss with Naidu the issue of shifting assembly sessions too from Hyderabad to Vijayawada-Guntur.

Although the chances of shifting assembly immediately are remote, Sivaprasada Rao said he would prefer to hold assembly sessions in Andhra Pradesh as early as possible.

Speaking to reporters in Vijayawada on Saturday, Sivaprasada Rao said shifting government offices to Vijayawada is a good move particularly after AP took into its hands the collection of taxes. Since running the administration from another state only results in huge tax loss to AP, most of the departments would be shifted to Vijayawada-Guntur at the earliest.

Meanwhile, municipal minister P Narayana visited several buildings in and around the city to identify suitable locations for various government departments. The minister said the entire state directorate level administration would be shifted to Vijayawada-Guntur within three months. He visited Medha Towers near Gannavaram and Laila complex on Bandar Road along with local MPs Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) and Konakalla Narayana Rao.

He said Medha Towers is the most suitable place to set up several offices. "We will take other buildings in Vijayawada and Guntur too into consideration for shifting government offices from Hyderabad. We have found about 30 acres of land in Medha Towers complex as ideal for temporary capital," he added.