Hyderabad will officially cease to be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. According to Section 5(1) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was designated as the common capital for both states for a period not exceeding ten years from June 2, 2014.
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Section 5(2) of the Act stipulates that after this period, Hyderabad would become the sole capital of Telangana, and a new capital would be established for Andhra Pradesh.
Currently, Andhra Pradesh has not yet established a permanent capital, with ongoing disputes over Amaravati and Visakhapatnam still pending in courts. Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has indicated that if he remains in power, Visakhapatnam will serve as the administrative capital, Amaravati as the legislative seat, and Kurnool as the judicial capital.
For the record, Andhra Pradesh stopped using Hyderabad as its capital soon after the bifurcation in 2014, retaining only a few buildings in the city. Although the latest separation is largely symbolic, it marks an important milestone for the two Telugu states, according to a political observer.
Inputs from TOI