Chandrababu Bids Teary Adieu To AP Legislative Assembly, Council Buildings 

Hyderabad: It was a nostalgic scene when the MLAs and MLCs of Andhra Pradesh bid adieu to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council buildings on Saturday after their last session here.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the next session will be held at the temporary premises constructed at Velagapudi in Amaravati capital city region.

Chandrababu even turned nostalgic and went around the precincts of the Houses, obliging several requests for selfies. With tears in his eyes, he recalled some of his experiences at the old Assembly.

Chandrababu, who was first elected an MLA in 1978, is the only legislator besides KE Krishnamurthy, who has served out a full term when the AP Assembly functioned from the old building until 1983.

Speaker Dr Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishnamurthy and finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, who made their debut as MLAs in 1983, had participated in debates in the old Assembly till 1984.

The structure was built in 1913 by the Nizam to serve as a town hall — with funds raised by the people to mark the 40th birthday of Nizam Mir Mahboob Ali Khan. Architects were commissioned to design the building after they visited Jaipur, which is why the blend of Rajasthani and Persian architecture is evident in the building.

After the first general elections in 1952, in Hyderabad state as it was then known, the town hall was converted into the Legislative Assembly. After the formation of AP on November 1, 1956, it served as the Assembly till August 3, 1985.

After the bifurcation, Governor ESL Narasimhan allotted the old building to the residual AP, from where it held its sessions for two-and-a-half years. Finally, Chandrababu decided to shift Assembly to Amaravati and bid adieu on Saturday.

“As national president of the Telugu Desam, I will visit Hyderabad. I am not leaving Hyderabad permanently,” he said. He also said it was a fact that he had demanded the resignation of Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister owning moral responsibility for the 2002 riots. “Recently, I met Mr Modi and told him about this, I told him under what compulsions I made such a demand. He understood,” Mr Naidu said.