The winter session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature is likely to be held on Acharya Nagarjuna University premises in Guntur. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is said to be mulling the idea of holding the Assembly session in the new State as part of efforts to reassure that the State government was committed to keeping the administration closer to the people.
Though a firm date of the session is yet to be announced, government sources said the legislature could convene its meeting around the first week of December.
Legislative Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao along with Legislature Secretary and senior officials will visit the university premises on Monday and examine facilities. The Speaker will visit H.H. Deichmann Auditorium and take a look at the facilities. The auditorium complex with a capacity of 1,000 has two more seminar halls in addition to green rooms.
Apart from facilities, the Speaker is likely to take stock of the security arrangements that should be put in place when the session is in progress. The decision to hold the session in Guntur comes in the light of the friction between the Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over the accommodation of important functionaries in the existing premises at Hyderabad.
Amidst tiff over the allocation of offices to the Chief Minister, Ministers, Chief Whip and other functionaries with the Telangana government, Dr. Sivaprasada Rao is learnt to be keen on shifting the venue out of Hyderabad as early as possible.
The decision to hold the session in the new State comes in the light of preference being accorded by Mr. Naidu to hold all important events in the new State. The government had earlier held the first meeting of the State Cabinet at Visakhapatnam which was preceded by meeting of the MPs of Andhra Pradesh and the Collectors’ conference in Vijayawada. Mr. Naidu also held an important meeting with the Finance Commission in Tirupati instead of Hyderabad.
ANU Vice Chancellor K. Viyanna Rao confirmed that the Speaker’s office had sent a note informing him about the visit.
