Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee President YS Sharmila on Wednesday accused the Chandrababu Naidu-led state government of placing her under house arrest in Kesarapalli on the outskirts of Vijayawada.

Earlier in the day, police personnel were deployed outside her home to prevent her from visiting Uddandarayunipalem village, reported The Hindu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the village on Friday to relaunch the Amaravati capital works.

“Why are you stopping me with your police when I am going to the party office to ask for the procedures for our capital?” Sharmila asked in a social media post, tagging Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and the Andhra Pradesh Police.

She added: “Why did you put me under house arrest and prevent me from coming out..? Why are you trying to violate my constitutional rights?”

Speaking to media persons later, Sharmila stated that the Congress had constituted an Amaravati Capital Committee to understand the problems of the region and formulate plans.

“But I fail to understand why the coalition government is afraid of the Congress committee,” she was quoted as saying by The Hindu. “What are they trying to hide?”

She asked if there was any “prohibition on holding meetings and discussing people’s issues in Andhra Pradesh”.

The Andhra Pradesh government needed new headquarters after the state split in 2014 and the old capital Hyderabad became part of Telangana. At the time, the previous Telugu Desam Party government led by Chandrababu Naidu had declared that Amaravati would be the new capital.

After Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party President Jagan Mohan Reddy became chief minister in 2019, the capital works were suspended.

The Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill was proposed in 2020, seeking to form an executive capital in Visakhapatnam, a legislative capital in Amaravati and a judicial capital in Kurnool.

However, the state government withdrew the Bill in 2021 after farmers in Amaravati, who gave over 30,000 acres of land for the new capital, moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court challenging the decision. Over 55 public interest litigation petitions have been filed in the High Court against the three-capitals Bill.

In 2022, the High Court had directed the state government to develop Amaravati and the surrounding areas as the capital region within six months under provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Act, 2014, and the Land Pooling Rules, 2015.