VIJAYAWADA: On a day when former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu tried to mobilise the support of other political parties on the issue of capital Amaravati, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy revealed the names of TDP leaders allegedly involved in insider trading. Stating that all the evidence related to insider trading will be made public, he alleged that Amaravati was proposed as the capital only to benefit Naidu and his coterie.
Launching a counter-offensive at a round table meeting organised by a few groups of farmers at Thullur on Thursday, Buggana accused the previous TDP regime of committing large scale irregularities while procuring land for the capital.
“Between June and December 2014, the TDP leaders diverted the attention of the public by giving leaks claiming that the capital would come up at Nuzvid and some other places. During that time, Naidu and his associates purchased lands in the capital region at throwaway prices. There is evidence for all the irregularities committed by the TDP leaders. The investigation is on to find out how many people have bought land in the peripheries of the capital city before its announcement and all details will soon be revealed,” he said.
He further said, “Naidu directly procured 14 acres of land. He may simply say that it was Heritage which bought the land. But, I ask, whose firm is Heritage? Isn’t it Naidu’s?
Similarly, Paritala Sunitha, GVS Anjaneyulu, Payyavula Keshav, Lingamaneni Ramesh, Dhulipalla Narendra, Putta Mahesh Yadav (Yanamala Ramakrishnudu’s in-laws), Kambhampati Rammohan Rao and others directly purchased lands. Indirectly, benamis of P Narayana, Prathipati Pulla Rao, Kommalapati Sridhar, Vemuru Ravi Kumar (Lokesh’s associate), former MP M Murali Mohan and others bought lands in Amaravati.”
He further charged Naidu’s government with coercion and deceit, alleging that the previous regime cheated Dalits and farmers of assigned lands. Naidu and his close associates have benefited from the land pooling and zoning system.
Land sharks were let loose to grab the assigned lands from Dalits in 26 villages, which were not registered by the Sub-Registrar of Mangalagiri and the Dalits had to sell their smallholdings in distress, Buggana charged.
“Three years later the lands were regularised and the Dalits were fully exploited. Majority of those who benefited were the land sharks, who bought the lands at throwaway prices. This way, lands worth thousands of crores were pocketed by the TDP,” he claimed.
The Finance Minister further stated that the YSRC government will soon take a decision regarding the development of capital Amaravati, which will benefit both the farmers who parted with their lands, and people of the State.
He also said that the previous TDP government totally ignored the Sivaramakrishnan Committee report. “It was not even tabled in the Assembly for a discussion,” he said.
The capital region farmers and leaders of other social groups, who participated in the round table meeting, alleged that the TDP had made the capital city development a big scam.Farmers’ Association leader Seshagiri Rao alleged that the previous TDP government had burned crops and coerced farmers to part with their agricultural lands.
Direct involvement
Involved through benamis