What right does Jagan have to sell lands in Amaravati? asked Chandrababu Naidu. (FILE)
Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday sought to know how the Jagan Mohan Reddy government was seeking to sell lands in Amaravati when it has not laid a single brick in the last three years for the capital city development.
The Leader of Opposition also found fault with the AP Capital Region Development Authority's decision to lease out the residential towers, built for government employees, to private entities.
“What right does Jagan have to sell lands in Amaravati when he has not laid a single brick for the capital development? How is the government expecting to get Rs 10 crore an acre when the YSR Congress leaders termed Amaravati a ‘smasaanam' (grave yard)?” Chandrababu Naidu questioned.
Addressing a meeting of the Telugu Desam strategy committee, the former Chief Minister asserted that the Jagan regime had no right to dispose off lands given by farmers for building the capital city.
He was also critical of the CRDA decision to lease out the residential towers in Amaravati, actually built for the state government employees.
“For three years the Jagan government left the towers abandoned, after our government completed more than 70 per cent of development work. Moreover, these flats are meant for government employees. How can the government lease them out to private people?” Chandrababu Naidu asked.
It may be recalled that the CRDA decided to put up 248.30 acres of land for auction in Amaravati to raise close to Rs 2,500 crore for taking up development works in the capital city.
The auction is expected to take place in July.
From next year on, it has drawn up plans to sell another 600 acres in a phased manner to raise more funds.
Simultaneously, it has also decided to lease out the D1 Tower, containing 120 flats, in the first lot to VIT-AP University to earn about Rs 8-10 crore per annum.
Another five towers will also be offered on lease to let the CRDA earn about Rs 50-60 crore as lease rental per year.
Meanwhile, farmers of Amaravati region, who parted with their land for the capital city, staged a protest at the site, strongly opposing the auctioning of 248 acres. They said the government could not go ahead with the plan without developing Amaravati as ordered by the High Court.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)