Naidu to lay foundation stone for new capital city on Saturday

Actual construction work will begin only on Vijaya Dashami in October

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will lay the foundation stone for the new capital city in Guntur district on Saturday amidst the Election Commission's restrictions on making new announcements in the light of legislative council elections.

The performance of 'Bhumi Puja' for the new capital city is more of a symbolic gesture as the government stated that the actual construction work would begin only from Vijaya Dashmi in October. The function is slated to be a lonely affair as the government had to postpone its plans to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the event.

The state may try to bring the Prime Minister at the time of ground breaking as work on land acquisition and the master planning still remain incomplete.

Naidu was sworn in as chief minister of the truncated AP on June 8, 2014 in Guntur district which hosts the core capital city proposed by the government.

However, the completion of one year in government coincides with some bitter moments for the ruling Telugu Desam Party, especially for Naidu. Party MLA A Reventh Reddy who belongs to Telangana was caught bribing a ruling TRS party MLA while seeking the latter's vote in the recently concluded legislative council elections. Reddy was allegedly told the TRS MLA that he was offering the money at the behest of Naidu.

A secret video footage, which captured the alleged bribery episode, has created a huge sensation in the local media since the arrest of the MLA by the Anti Corruption Burearu (ACB) officials.