HYDERABAD: Rubbishing BJP leader Raghunandan Rao’s allegations that he built a farmhouse in the catchment area of Krishna river as wild, unfounded, foolish, and politically motivated, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy invited the former to visit the farmhouse, conduct a survey of those lands, and be prepared to tender his resignation if his allegation was found to be wrong. He also warned Raghunandan of legal consequences, if he didn’t tender an apology for attempting to malign his image.
In his strong rejoinder, Niranjan Reddy stated that the land in Kothapet was disclosed in his 2014 and 2018 election affidavit and that the house on that land was constructed by his wife with her own funds, and also with a bank loan.
He clarified that Raghunandan’s claim of 50 acres land in Mojerla was not his property, and that the said land extending to 11.20 acres belong to his sister-in-law who is a doctor in London, and has bought it along with her friends, where there is no farmhouse, but a vegetable garden.
He said that the land in Chandur was bought by his daughters who were well settled in the US, and that if a single gunta land was found in excess, they would be ready to forego that land, and that he was also prepared to resign from his cabinet post.
He also clarified that the ST under whose name the lands were temporarily registered, was his adopted son Gouda Naik, who was raised by him since his childhood, and because his daughters couldn’t come for registering the land during the pandemic, he had to get them registered under Naik’s name.
Terming the conspiracy angle in the MRO office fire incident as unfortunate, Niranjan Reddy said that even if the documents in MRO office were gutted, they will still be available with the district collectorate and the CCLA.