Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that people in Huzurnagar are suspecting that a principal aide of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and TRS MP Santosh Kumar was helping the land mafia locally.
“People are wondering why when there is such a huge uproar against grabbing of government and tribal lands across the state, why is the district and state administration maintaining complete silence on the issue. TRS councillors and party leaders themselves are saying that government and tribal lands worth hundreds of crores were forcibly being grabbed by unscrupulous elements in Huzurnagar,” he said.
“As an MLA, who previously represented Huzurnagar constituency for four terms, I got roads laid and brought immense development. Yet, there were no encroachments. However, now, some brokers, connected with a close aide of the CM, purchased documents from the tribals,” he said.
The Nalgonda MP said that after the TRS won the Huzurnagar Assembly by-elections in 2019, local TRS leaders, in connivance with police and officials, encroached upon thousands of acres of land, worth several hundred crores. He said he had made several representations with authorities against such encroachments. Subsequently, one MRO was also suspended from the post.
However, Mr Reddy said the local administration was expressing its helplessness in controlling the land mafia, citing “pressure from top” as the reason. He said local people suspect that the land mafia was enjoying backing of TRS MP Santosh Kumar.
He said the top TRS leadership was allegedly pressuring local authorities to allow encroachment of tribal lands. He also alleged that gundas from Bihar have been hired to carry out attacks on Telangana’s native tribals.
The State government must act against operatives of the land mafia to protect tribal lands or else the Congress would launch a serious agitation, he warned.
The TPCC chief condemned Telangana BJP President Bandi Sanjay for his remarks against him, saying, “I have served India as an Airforce pilot and fought against enemies at the borders in the air. Is this the respect Bandi Sanjay has for those who serve in the armed forces?”
He dared Bandi Sanjay to convince the Centre to order a probe against Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his family members, instead of merely making statements against their corruption. He said that both BJP and TRS were two sides of the same coin, who had a secret pact with the sole intention of damaging the Congress in Telangana.
