400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli become a bone of contention between Govt and Opposition

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday defended the Congress government's plan to auction off 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli for industrial development amid rising criticism from opposition parties, students, and environmentalists.

Revanth Reddy also maintained that the site had nothing to do with the University of Hyderabad and accused detractors of misleading the public, while addressing the Assembly. The site was given to a private organization 25 years ago and was not owned by the university, he added.

Congress govt canceled land allocation in 2006

"Almost 25 years ago, the land was allocated to a private person. Since then, the land has not been under the control of Hyderabad Central University (HCU). In the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the then-Congress government canceled the land allocation in 2006, and it was in court. In the last 10 years, the BRS party hasn't taken over the land from a private person.

After I assumed the charge, I knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court and fought a legal battle to reclaim it. As part of the development plan, the land was allocated to Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) to develop layouts for IT companies. The land is not a reserve forest. There are no tigers or deer in that area, but some cunning foxes are trying to obstruct development," the chief minister said.

Revanth Reddy also claimed that opposition parties were inciting student protests and pursuing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in order to postpone the project. In support of his claim, the Chief Minister questioned why, during the previous Andhra Pradesh administration, fraudulent companies such as IMG Bharatha were granted these properties without any opposition. "Do you oppose industrial expansion? Don't you want Telangana's youth to have jobs? He questioned, pushing the opposition to consider compensatory solutions instead of open opposition.

Harish Rao accuses Revanth Reddy for insulting Supreme Court

Reacting to the remarks made by the chief minister, BRS MLA and former minister T Harish Rao has accused Revanth Reddy of making comments that insult the Supreme Court. “How can a member comment on a matter of fact when a judicial decision is pending? Revanth Reddy has once again insulted the Supreme Court with his statements on judgments,” he said after raising a point of order in the House.

Harish Rao also said that the Chief Minister said that this house has immunity and nothing can be said about the courts in this house. “How can Revanth Reddy say all these ten MLAs will not be disqualified. It did not happen in the past. It will not happen now either,” he said, and added that the chief minister should remember that matters pending in the Supreme Court and High Court, except for the removal of judges, should not be discussed in the House.

Later, the BRS MLAs protested at the Speaker's podium, saying they were no longer allowed to speak in the House and staged a walkout protest in the House, protesting the Congress government's behavior.