HYDRAA a tool of extortion for Revanth Reddy govt: KTR

BRS working president KT Rama Rao launched a blistering attack on the Congress government, accusing it of using HYDRAA as a tool of extortion, mishandling land administration and pursuing politics of intimidation. He reiterated that upon returning to power, the BRS will abolish HYDRAA and even consider necessary action over its illegal use against the poor.

Interacting with mediapersons in New Delhi on Tuesday, Rama Rao cited recent observations of the Telangana High Court on HYDRAA and stated that the agency had become an instrument for targeting properties of ordinary citizens, while sparing illegal constructions of influential persons including the Chief Minister, the Ministers, the ruling party leaders, and their family members.

Demanding uniform enforcement of the law, he called for action against alleged constructions within Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zones belonging to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s family members, Ministers Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and G Vivek Venkataswamy, MLA Patnam Mahender Reddy, KVP Ramachandra Rao and others. He said people would believe the law was being applied fairly only if action was taken irrespective



of political affiliation. “The Revanth Reddy government has been using HYDRAA as a tool for blackmail and extortion,” he remarked.

The former Minister also stated that the extent of prohibited lands in Telangana had increased from about 16 lakh acres when the BRS left office to nearly one crore acres under the Congress government. He accused the government of expanding the prohibited lands list to facilitate corruption and commissions. “Large-scale demolitions and wrongful inclusion of properties in the prohibited list in Hyderabad had hurt the real estate sector. During the same period, the government failed to create any new housing for the poor,” he said.

He said all political parties should evolve a common position to safeguard the interests of southern States before any delimitation exercise was undertaken. He insisted that the delimitation exercise and the Women Reservation Bill should not be intertwined. He reiterated that decentralisation should remain the guiding principle behind delimitation. He added that the BRS would announce its position in Parliament at an appropriate time while protecting Telangana’s interests.