SURVAPET: Among the 119 candidates who filed their nomination papers for the Huzurnagar Assembly seat on Monday was an 85-year-old woman. A Lakshmi Narsamma, a resident of Vellaturu in Chintalapalem Mandal, entered the fray with the sole objective of drawing the attention of the government to the land mafia. After filing her papers, she issued a press statement and said: “I am not interested in the MLA post. I am neither supporting nor opposing any political party.”
“My husband, A Achyutharama Sastri, fought against the Nizam government and went to jail. We have 179 acres of land in Vellatoor village in the survey number of 488. In 1975, we handed over about 79 acres of land to the government under the Land Ceiling Act. The remaining 100 acres of land were distributed among my eight sons and five daughters.”
“A few years ago my husband passed away. When the Pulichinthala project was started, the land rates went up and the land mafia started threatening my children, asking them to part with their lands for cheaper rates. We made a representation to the previous district collector, asking the administration to buy our land and distribute it among the SCs and STs under the three acres land scheme.”
“Since the administration failed to respond, I have decided to file my nomination papers to bring the issue to the notice of CM KCR and KTR. My request to the government is to buy our land and protect it from the land mafia,” she added.