CM land issue kicks up political storm

Hyderabad, Dec 17: The land row involving Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy has snowballed into a major controversy with major opposition parties pressing for his resignation for alleged violation of the law of the land.

A day after the Chief Minister admitted on Tuesday last that he had surrendered 618 acres of land purchased by his father after knowing that they were in violation of the Land Ceiling act, the major opposition parties TDP, TRS and the CPI(M), buried political differences for floor Coordination in the State Assembly to press for his resignation.

Perceiving Dr Reddy as the main stumbling block for the formation of a separate Telangana State, the TRS decided to take the fight to New Delhi and urged the Congressmen to persuade the party High Command to force the Chief Minister to step down, TRS sources said.

Contending that Dr Reddy had suppressed the land holding in question in the affidavit filed before the election authorities during the last assembly elections, the TRS had decided to seek the intervention of Governor Rameshwar Thakur and the Election Commission.

Barely 48 hours after announcing surrender of 618 acres of surplus land owned by his family, Dr Reddy scaled down the extent of land by nearly half to 310.57 acres, claiming that he had wrongly mentioned a higher figure earlier going by media reports.

The issue echoed in New Delhi, with the TDP trying to raise the issue unsuccessfully inside Parliament. Later the TDP members joined by the members of the Samajwadi Party, staged a dharna in front of Parliament to press their demand. Alleging that Dr Reddy had mislead the House by stating that the lands were bought by his father, the TDP Legislature Party claimed that some of the lands in question were purchased after the death of Dr Reddy's father and decided to give a privilege notice to the Speaker, party sources said.

While hailing the Chief Minister as a reincarnation of Bhoodan Movement leader Vinobha Bhave, who persuaded many a zamindar to part with their huge tracts of land for distribution to the poor , the Congress party wanted others to emulate him and used the opportunity to unearth skeletons in the cupboard of opposition parties.

Taking a cue from the Chief Minister, Congress Legislator J Ratnakar Rao has announced that he would also hand over excess land to the Government. A few more Congress MLAS were likely to follow suit.

According to the Congress, among others, TDP President and Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu, former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, TRS floor leader G Vijayarama Rao and TDP MP C Ramachandraiah had illegal land holdings. Several political leaders, industrialists and realtors were accused of holding lands illegally.

The State Government had constituted a three-member committee to inquire into the landholdings of the TDP President in the Hi-Tech City.

For over 30 years, Dr Reddy enjoyed the benefits of the farmhouse in Idupalapaya in Kadapa district, the opposition claimed, alleging that he had violated conservation of the Forest Act and also the Act governing Andhra Pradesh Government assigned lands to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBC),punishable under Section 24 of the Land Ceiling Act.

While Dr Reddy had 10.11 acres in his name before surrender, Congress MP Y S Vivekananda Reddy had 9.96 acres. As much as 115.06 acres had been held by Y S Raja Reddy Private Limited Plantation and 40.63 acres in the name of Raja Reddy Resorts Private Limited.

Twelve other family members, including his daughter Morusupalli Sharmillamma, had rest of the 310.57 acres of land.

UNI