TDP Accuses Jagan Reddy of Usurping Govt Land To Fulfill His 'Craze of Palaces'

Vizag: The TDP, helmed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, launched a pincer attack on YSRCP Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for his alleged possession of lands meant for government use. Reddy grabbed headlines after reports suggested he got a palatial palace allegedly worth Rs 500 crore constructed in Vishakhapatnam's Rushikonda Hills for his consumption. Such is the grandeur that insiders say they were gobsmacked by the opulence inside. 

Criticising Reddy for allegedly constructing opulent residences using people's money across the state, the TDP, on its official page in Telugu, stated (roughly translated in English), “Jagan Reddy, who has seized people's property and built a palace for the district with people's money, this is the party palace that is being built on land belonging to the Water Resources Department at HLC Colony in Anantapur. Officials have focused on this illegal palace, which is being constructed without the permission of the Water Resources Department.” 

It further added, "Jagan Reddy spent public money profligately for his craze of palaces. Jagan, who has built a palace for the district, is encroaching on 2 acres of land belonging to the Roads and Buildings Department in Rajamahendravaram of East Godavari district and is illegally building this palace. The value of this land is Rs.45 crores. Officials issued notices for constructing this illegal palace without taking any due permission."

 Andhra Pradesh Information Technology and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh on Sunday alleged that the former YSRCP government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had allocated 42 acres of land in 26 districts for building party offices. The IT minister alleged that these land parcels were allocated at a nominal cost of Rs 1,000 lease for 33 years. '

"You (Jagan) allocated 42 acres of land in 26 districts for YSRCP (offices) at a meagre cost of Rs 1,000 lease for 33 years," Lokesh said in a post on social media platform X. He also posted more than a dozen pictures of the alleged YSRCP offices under construction in various parts of the state. This development comes soon after it became public knowledge that a palatial mansion was allegedly built for Rs 500 crore in Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam for Jagan Reddy and that an under-construction YSRCP central party office in Tadepalli was recently demolished.

The sea-view mansion, allegedly built with Italian marble, 200 chandeliers, 12 bedrooms, multi-hued illumination and other luxuries was allegedly meant to be the residence of the former CM. However, the recent transition of the state government from the YSRCP to the TDP brought the mansion into the national spotlight. According to Lokesh, the 42 acres of land, said to be worth about Rs 600 crore could have easily funded land at the rate of one cent each for 4,200 poor people. Drawing a similar parallel, the TDP general secretary noted that the alleged money spent on the Rushikonda mansion could have funded house construction for 25,000 people. The TDP on Sunday circulated 19 images of buildings under various stages of construction across the state, alleging that they were YSRCP offices.

"With the demolition of the illegal structures constructed by the YSRCP in Tadepalli, several sensational facts have come to light. The senior officers are now studying the details of how the YSRCP has grabbed lands in prime localities at all 26 district headquarters, worth hundreds of crores (of rupees), in the name of building party offices," a TDP statement said.

According to the ruling party, the market value of land in these locations and the estimated expenditure on buildings could total up to Rs 2,000 crore. Meanwhile, the YSRCP in a post on X also alleged that the erstwhile TDP government between 2014 and 2019 had allocated government lands worth "thousands of crores of rupees" to the ruling party at a paltry lease cost. (with PTI inputs)