Dilli Door Ast: Why Amaravati In Andhra Pradesh Should Be India’s Second National Capital

India is too big and too diverse to be governed from one capital. With a population nearly twice as large as the European Union, India is also bigger than the whole of Africa. Put simply, for most of India’s eastern and southern regions, Dilli door ast (Delhi is far away). A point to note, the EU’s major institutions operate from four nodes, Brussels, Strasbourg, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.

India clearly needs a second capital and a third one to bridge the psychological distances separating the rulers from the ruled. The idea of having a second capital in the south was recently raised by R V Deshpande, Karnataka’s Large, Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister, in a letter to the Prime Minister. The Times of India quotes from his letter thus: “India needs a second capital and Bengaluru is the best choice….A country the size and scale of India cannot be managed from one location, especially when the government is gearing up for a paradigmatic and radical change in terms of depth of governance, structural reforms, national reconstruction and international partnerships.”

He's bang on, except for his choice of second capital city. Bengaluru is badly run for an international city with legitimate claims to being a second Silicon Valley, and, in any case, it does not need an additional reason for businesses and job-seekers to make a beeline to this city.

The city – or, rather, a future city – with the best claim to being India’s second capital is Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. Ever since he won a mandate in 2014, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been working very hard to create a futuristic capital, with meagre resources. Naidu got the short-end of the stick when Telangana was cleaved from a united Andhra, and Hyderabad went with it. It is Amaravati that is truly deserving of central investment in creating a second central capital, complete with a winter parliament building, and the shifting of many central offices and ministries permanently to this emerging state capital.

Two months ago, Naidu approved a tower design for the state assembly, but since work is yet to begin, it would make sense to design the building to also include a parliament. In fact, future designs for any new legislature should include plans to accommodate two chambers of parliament – around 550 and 250 seats – so that Parliament sessions can effectively be held in many more states, at a time when the assembly is not sitting. Parliament should be open to holding a session in any state at the invitation of the assembly.

In Amaravati’s case, the city is being designed as a smart knowledge city – with plenty of greenery and water to go around, with technology playing a key part in all areas, and with a business hub being developed around it. It bids fair to be the second national capital.

Naidu is said to be miffed that the National Democratic Alliance government, of which he is a part, has done little to help him set up his state, and building a second capital city in Amaravati would thus be a good move. Politically, it would help seal an ally for 2019.

At some point, India’s Parliament also needs to move east, and Guwahati would be a good location for it. The Bharatiya Janata Party has done more than any other government to reduce the region’s isolation. If the future of eastern India is trading with ASEAN via Myanmar, it makes sense for a third capital to be located in Guwahati. India can project its power eastwards once this is done. A third capital in Assam will also send the message that Pakistan does not come any more into India’s thinking.

As things stand, the western region does not need a capital for two reasons: Mumbai is India’s commercial capital, and with a bullet train linking the city to Ahmedabad, it means the Maharashtra-Gujarat combo will not go unheard in Parliament. Money speaks louder than regional voices. It is where the money does not go that we need Delhi to move closer to those places.

For now, Amaravati, the emerging capital of Andhra Pradesh, should be the home of India’s second national capital.

Narendra Modi should look at the idea pronto.