HYDERABAD: BRS leader T Harish Rao on Sunday said that the pink party cadre will lay siege to the Secretariat if the government fails to remove lakhs of properties included in the prohibited list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act.
He also warned that the BRS would stall the proceedings during the forthcoming session of the State Legislative Assembly over this issue.
During a meeting organised in Boduppal, the former minister wondered why Rahul Gandhi was silent while Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Revenue Minister Ponguleti were “doing real estate business”.
The BRS leader alleged that several lands were kept in the prohibited list only for the sake of 30% commissions.
Claiming that “entire Hyderabad city is blocked on Bhu Bharati portal”, he demanded that details of all the prohibited lands are made available in the public domain.
Harish Rao further alleged that around 40 lakh acres were included in the prohibited list. “Even Ameenpur police station building is included in the 22-A list,” he said.
“The revenue minister can’t escape from his responsibility and wash his hands of this issue by just tendering an apology and blaming the officials,” he added.
Seeks withdrawal of GO 97
Meanwhile, Harish Rao demanded the cancellation of GO 97 while opposing the proposed merger of polytechnic colleges with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
Speaking at a dharna organised by polytechnic students at Rajagopalpet, the BRS leader said that polytechnic education should continue independently and students should retain the opportunity to secure admission directly into the second year of engineering courses.
Extending support to the protesting students, he said that he understood their concerns as he too had studied in a polytechnic.
Stating that nearly 95% of polytechnic students came from poor families, he said polytechnic education had a history spanning seven decades and many diploma holders were working abroad.
“Students are getting quality education by paying a nominal fee in polytechnics,” he said, while accusing the government of taking a unilateral decision without consulting students or experts.
He also criticised Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for not addressing the concerns of students and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the proposed legislation. He vowed to raise the issue in the Assembly.