YSRCP allotted 42 acres of land worth Rs 600 Cr for party offices for just Rs 1,000 lease: Nara Lokesh

Amaravati: Investigations have revealed that YSRCP has allegedly grabbed lands in prime localities in all district headquarters in the name of building party offices.

This follows the demolition of alleged illegal structures constructed by YSRCP in Tadepalli.

Senior officers are now investigating how the YSRCP has grabbed lands worth hundreds of crores in prime localities in 26 district headquarters.

The then chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has transferred two acres of land each at all the district headquarters in the heart of the towns to build his party offices.

The investigation has also revealed that a palatial mansion was allegedly built for Rs 500 crore in Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam for Jagan Reddy. The sea-view mansion, built with Italian marble, 200 chandeliers, 12 bedrooms, multi-hued illumination, and other luxuries was allegedly meant to be the residence of the former CM.

Allocated 42 acres in 26 districts, says Lokesh

Information Technology and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh on Sunday alleged that the former YSRCP government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had allocated 42 acres of land in 26 districts for building party offices at a nominal cost of Rs 1,000 lease for 33 years. The minister posted the information on social media platform X along with several pictures of alleged YSRCP offices under construction.

"You (Jagan) allocated 42 acres of land in 26 districts for YSRCP (offices) at a meager cost of Rs 1,000 for 33 years of lease," Lokesh said in a post on X, attaching more than a dozen pictures of the alleged YSRCP offices under construction in various parts of the state.

According to Lokesh, the 42 acres of land, said to be worth about Rs 600 crore could have easily funded land at the rate of one cent each for 4,200 poor people. Drawing a similar parallel, the TDP general secretary noted that the money spent on the Rushikonda mansion could have funded house construction for 25,000 people.

19 images circulated

The TDP on Sunday circulated 19 images of buildings under various stages of construction across the state, alleging that they were YSRCP offices.

"With the demolition of the illegal structures constructed by the YSRCP in Tadepalli, several sensational facts have come to light. The senior officers are now studying the details of how the YSRCP has grabbed lands in prime localities at all 26 district headquarters, worth hundreds of crores (of rupees), in the name of building party offices," a TDP statement said.

Market Value is Rs 900 Cr

According to the ruling party, the market value of land in these locations and the estimated expenditure on buildings could total up to Rs 2,000 crore. They alleged that these illegally occupied lands belong to departments like the Irrigation, and Endowments, some are assigned lands and some are prohibited lands, which were allotted to the party at will, totally misusing the power.

"Each building is designed in such a way that it should resemble a palace and the political analysts are of the strong opinion that in the history of the nation, no other political party in the country has built the party offices in such an expensive manner, spending such huge amounts. Not even the Congress, which was in power at the Centre for so long or the BJP which is in rule now too did not have such palatial buildings as their party offices, feel the political analysts," the TDP statement said.

Meanwhile, the YSRCP in a post on X also alleged that the erstwhile TDP government between 2014 and 2019 had allocated government lands worth "thousands of crores of rupees" to the ruling party at a paltry lease cost.