Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former MLA Palla Srinivasa Rao on Monday refuted allegations of land-grabbing levelled against him by Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, and dared the latter to back up his accusations with evidence.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, the TDP Parliamentary district president challenged Mr. Muttamsetti and other YSRCP MPs and MLAs to a debate, claiming that it would prove who was at fault.
“I will quit politics if the YSRCP leaders can prove that I own 49 acres of land,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said. He added that Rajya Sabha MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy should leave Visakhapatnam if the YSRCP leaders were unable to prove the allegations.
“I disclosed my assets in my election affidavits in 2014 and 2019, and I have only a one-seventh share in my family property. The Minister says that I have 49 acres in my name. If that is true, let him prove it. There will be at least 40,000 acres of land in Gajuwaka mandal. The officials might have seized someone else’s property and are saying that it is mine,” Mr. Srinivasa Rao said.
The TDP leader said that he does not own even an inch of land in Kapu Jaggarajupeta but has land in Yadav Jaggarajupeta and Tunglam.
“Our family has been in politics since 1979 with my father Palla Simhachalam contesting as an Independent. “We used to sell part of the land before elections to meet expenses. The ‘jirayati’ (dry crop) land on my site is not encroached land as being claimed. The government is victimising me as I have not joined the YSRCP, and for launching a fast against the privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP),” he alleged.
The former MLA also expressed his ire at officials for going on a demolition spree “in violation of rules at the behest of the ruling party”, and said they would have to face the consequences in future. He also claimed that the citizens were angry at the YSRCP government’s move to sell properties in the city and added that the demolition spree was meant to divert their attention.
