Chandrababu Naidu wrote to Jagan Reddy to allow him to keep Praja Vedika
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has ordered the demolition of a swanky building with glass walls that his predecessor Chandrababu Naidu used as a venue to meet the public, hold press conferences and conduct sundry work.
Mr Naidu had written to the new Chief Minister on June 4 to allow him to retain the hall so that he could work from there as the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly. "I wish to continue the same arrangement, that the Praja Vedika be declared as the residence annexe of the leader of the opposition, to facilitate me to meet legislators, visitors, common public and discharge my duties," Mr Naidu wrote.
The building 'Praja Vedika', conveniently located near Mr Naidu's home, was built in 2017 at a cost of Rs 5 crore by the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) government.
The new YSR Congress Party government that came to power with a massive mandate took over Praja Vedika last weekend to organise Mr Reddy's first meet with district collectors after becoming Chief Minister.
During the meet, Mr Reddy said it was the last event at Praja Vedika as the building was "illegal" and it would be demolished on Wednesday.
The YSR Congress Party has also been claiming that the house where Mr Naidu lived when he was Chief Minister, on the banks of the Krishna river, was illegally built.
The YSR Congress decimated Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and also swept to victory in 22 of 25 parliamentary constituencies, making it the fourth-largest in parliament, behind the BJP, the Congress and the DMK.
Mr Reddy in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30 had discussed issues regarding special category status for Andhra Pradesh, a demand over which Mr Naidu broke away from the National Democratic Alliance.
Special status will mean a large infusion of central funds to help with the state government's plans to develop its new capital Amravati. This has been a long-standing demand of Andhra Pradesh government since Telangana was carved out of it in 2014.