Vizag land grabbing: Tourism minister Srinivasa Rao challenges Naidu to prove charges

"Land was grabbed by TDP members during Chandrababu Naidu's rule. I challenge you to prove if a single yard of land was encroached by him or any YSRCP member in the last two years. The state government was retrieving all the land encroached by TDP leaders. It shall be distributed among the poor. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy works for the welfare of the public. In the last two years, various development programmes have been undertaken in Visakhapatnam, with an aim to develop the city. Chandrababu Naidu had spent money from the land sale in Visakhapatnam on the development of Hyderabad," Rao told media persons here.

He said that government is not vindictive against TDP, but it is responsible for safeguarding the land and taking action against illegal encroachments. "Unlike in TDP rule, where Visakhapatnam was turned into a city of corruption, the government is now making it as the safest city. Thousands of crores worth of land were encroached by TDP leaders with the support of Chandrababu Naidu and same is the case with Palla Srinivasa Rao, who encroached 49 acres of land valued at Rs 791.41 crores in the Benami account of his father," he said

Rao said the previous government failed to take action on land encroachments in Visakhapatnam and didn't make the SIT report public. "Soon after forming the government, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has constituted SIT to investigate the land scams in Visakhapatnam and will take action based on the report. Nobody has the right to encroach government land and action will be initiated against any unlawful activity committed by any person whether he belongs to the ruling party or the Opposition, and will be sent to jail by pressing criminal charges," he said.

He said that the Chief Minister has come up with a decentralization plan for the equitable development of all three regions. "Chandrababu should answer whether he and his party members are for or against Visakhapatnam to be an Executive Capital. The government will soon complete the construction of NAD Flyover and Bhogapuram Airport. If BJP leaders are truly concerned about Visakhapatnam, they should bring in a railway zone and start works," he added.