After regime change in Andhra Pradesh, the bulldozers roll in
Since the Chandrababu Naidu-led government assumed power in Andhra Pradesh on June 12, the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) have been at loggerheads over several issues.
Earlier this month, the TDP alleged that it had “unearthed Jagan’s palace” at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam, which the previous YSRCP government had claimed it was developing as a CM camp office-cum-tourist spot. Days later, the Naidu government demolished the YSRCP’s central office in Tadepalli, on the outskirts of Vijayawada, claiming that it was built without the required permissions.
The Andhra government has also slapped notices on YSRCP offices in all 26 districts of the state, alleging that 42 acres of land was “given away” to the party and the structures were being built using government funds worth Rs 677.5 crore. Sources said all 26 offices were built without permission and are currently in various stages of completion.
One of these notices was served this week by the Vizianagaram Municipal Corporation to YSRCP district president M Srinivasarao, asking him “to stop unauthorised construction work and submit a reply within seven days”.
A government source said: “While YSRCP offices in ASR, Chittoor and Ambedkar Konaseema districts were built on plots entangled in legal disputes, those in Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, Eluru and NTR districts were built on land given to various departments of the government.”
Similar issues had been found with YSRCP offices in other districts, the source said. Photos shared by the TDP of some of these offices show massive structures, built of expensive material, now lying in a state of disrepair or only half-constructed.
The YSRCP has called the notices and demolition examples of “political vendetta”, and pointed out that during the TDP’s government between 2014 and 2019, when Naidu was the CM, the party had also constructed party offices on a large scale.
According to the YSRCP, the previous TDP government issued Government Orders (GOs) pertaining to lease of land for 10 party offices in Srikakulam, Guntur, Kadapa, Vizianagaram, Chittoor, Prakasam and Krishna districts.
“A plot has been hatched to demolish Vijayawada and Vizianagaram party (YSRCP) offices in a vengeful manner. Sparing TDP offices which were built on the basis of a GO issued by Chandrababu (Naidu), the alliance government is coercing officials to serve notices to YSRCP,” the YSRCP said in a post on X.
Denying the allegations, Andhra Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh told The Indian Express: “They (the YSRCP) did not take the required permissions and that is the reason why the relevant departments have issued notices to them.”
Speaking about the YSRCP party office in Prakasam, TDP national spokesperson K Pattabhi Ram said that land was allotted for it despite the Irrigation Department writing “that the concerned land was meant for the development of the AP Waterland Management Training Institute”.
Accusing the YSRCP of “snatching away” land belonging to the public and for the development of public offices illegally, Pattabhi Ram said: “They are just making baseless allegations against the TDP. If they have proof, they should provide the papers to substantiate their allegations.”
However, a section of leaders from both parties see the TDP government’s actions as a response to the Jagan government demolishing the Praja Vedika – the hall constructed near Naidu’s Undavalli residence to hear grievances of people – after coming to power in 2019. “The YSRCP inflicted pain for five years and cannot handle pain even for five weeks?” a TDP leader from Guntur said.
A YSRCP leader from neighbouring Palnadu said the party was not entirely surprised by the crackdown against its properties, and anticipated the same after the TDP secured its huge mandate in the recent elections. “It is a part of politics. The YSRCP regime also did it. The Praja Vedika was demolished while names of many welfare schemes were changed. The Anna canteens were not run properly only because it had the word Anna in its name (TDP founder N T Rama Rao was fondly referred to as Anna).”
The YSRCP government had also put the brakes on Naidu’s prestigious capital project at Amaravati, coming up instead with a three-capital plan. However, the latter too had remained caught up in legal hassles.
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