Andhra Pradesh government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy wondered why industrialist Lingamaneni Ramesh had given his house on the Krishna riverfront to former chief minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to live in, without taking any rent, unless he was a beneficiary in the Amaravati land scam.
Interacting with reporters, he said that while living in the building without paying any rent, the former chief minister had drawn house rent from the government as chief minister and was continuing to do so even now as the Leader of the Opposition.
If he got the building free, how could he claim rent from the government, Sajjala asked.
If he had taken any building on rent and executed any agreement, the government would have paid for it as well as for its repairs, but nothing of that sort happened, he added.
This was the latest development in the alleged Amaravati land scam.
After Telangana was bifurcated, the remaining Andhra Pradesh did not have a capital city.
Hence, the Naidu-led TDP government zeroed in on Amaravati with a view to setting up a new capital there.To that end, land was brought up in the area as part of the plan to build the capital city as per a plan that was chalked out under a Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA).
However, that construction did not happen, and a special panel set up by current Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy found in 2019 “several procedural, legal and financial irregularities and fraudulent transactions concerning various projects were highlighted, including in the Capital Region Development Authority region”.
The question at the top of everyone’s mind is why Ramesh gave his building to Naidu for free without taking any rent, Sajjala stated.
The YCP govt advisor alleged,“Does Ramesh have so much money that he has grown averse to it?”.
Lingamaneni Ramesh’s lands, which are about 240 acres, were excluded from land acquisition for building Amaravati, said Reddy.
Apart from this, Ramesh had given about four acres of his land to Heritage Company, which Naidu’s family owns, he alleged, adding that the industrialist had violated several other provisions of environmental protection laws.
Sajjala said that the CID would take action in accordance with the evidence and also the attachment orders given by the government for the building, which is a symbol of illegal gratification that Naidu received in a quid pro quo scam in the acquisition of lands for Amaravati.
Finally, it is the government and the farmers who had lost because of the TDP’s avarice, he said.
—
The riverfront property
Referring to the erstwhile TDP government declaring all the Krishna riverfront buildings as illegal as they were violative of the laws meant to protect water bodies, Reddy wondered how the Lingamaneni building, which was also on the riverfront, became a legal structure for Naidu to live in.
“Naidu, who occupied a constitutional position, unabashedly lived in an illegal building and, on top of it, did not pay anything to its owner because he immensely benefitted him in other ways,” said Reddy.
“There are several other issues with the Krishna riverfront building.
Naidu has been letting out sewerage into the Krishna river from his building, which is against the law,” he alleged.
“We are able to see only the tip of the iceberg.The scam runs very deep,” he added.
