The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Amendment Bill, 2026, which seeks to officially recognise Amaravati as capital of Andhra Pradesh, by voice vote after a short discussion, after almost all parties, including the Opposition Congress, supported the Bill.However, the YSR Congress staged a walk out after saying that the Bill should have given a timeline to complete the promises made to farmers who had given their lands to make Amaravati the capital of Andhra Pradesh.Introduced by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the Bill aims to amend Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, to incorporate the name of Amaravati as the new state capital.The Bill was not listed in the revised list of business of the day, and found mention only in the supplementary list of business.Earlier on March 28, the Andhra Pradesh Assembly had passed a resolution, requesting the Centre to amend Section 5 of the said Act, to incorporate Amaravati’s name as the new state capital.Initiating the discussion on the Bill, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said the party fully supported the legislation, but called for a special status to the state. “Let Amaravati develop like Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad. Let Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kurnool also develop,” he said.BJP MP D Purandeswari said although Telangana began its journey with Hyderabad as its capital, which was ready and functional, Andhra Pradesh did not have a capital, nor had an Assembly, a Secretariat or an administrative ecosystem.She further said that February 8, 2014, should be considered a ‘black day’ in the annals of Indian Parliamentary history, because “a state was bifurcated on the floor of the House” without a healthy discussion, with doors of the Parliament shut and cameras switched off.“The people of Andhra Pradesh accepted the loss peacefully and Constitutionally, keeping the nation’s interests in mind,” she added.She recalled how when three states (Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh) were created under then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and were allotted a capital. However, Andhra Pradesh was “subjected to deep humiliation” in 2014, she said, adding that it was probably the first instance in India’s history where a residual state was left with no capital.Referring to the land given by farmers for the capital, the BJP MP said Amaravati would be remembered in the history as first people’s capital, built not by coercion but belief.TDP MP and Minister of State for Rural Development, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, said that the people of Andhra Pradesh were excited about the development.“Farmers have sacrificed their lands to make Amaravati a capital,” he said, and also highlighted the contribution of women towards the cause.Supporting the Bill, Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav sought to know from the Andhra Pradesh Government whether it had provided compensation to farmers whose land has been acquired for the new capital. “Have you given four times compensation to farmers?” he asked.YSR Congress MP PV Midhun Reddy said 34,000 acres were acquired by the Andhra Pradesh Government for the development of Amaravati as the capital with the promise of free developed plots, a housing scheme and free education for the children of the affected people. However, nothing has been given to them so far.“They are not bothered about farmers. Give a specific date, a specific timeline when the plots will be given to the farmers. Incorporate all these points in the Bill, otherwise there is no meaning,” he said.Reddy alleged that the state’s TDP government was not concerned from where the huge amount of funds would come for the development of such a large capital. “You want to develop a capital bigger than Kolkata but there is no clue from where the funds will come,” he said.The YSR Congress MP justified the decision of his party’s government, which ruled the state from 2019 to 2024, of developing three capitals, saying it was nothing new as there were many such examples globally.