Amaravati Capital Project Ridden With Scams: Buggana

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh finance minister Bugganna Rajendranath Reddy clarified that the state government was not against the construction of the new capital, but was only opposed to corruption which the Chandrababu-led regime indulged in the project. He spoke to media persons at the state secreatriat on Thursday. The minister added that his colleague Botsa Satyanarayana's statement on the capital sparked off a number of speculative stories in the media. The AP finance minister also stated that there would be a thorough probe into the irregularities involving TDP leaders in the name of construction of the capital. The YSRCP government believes that by decentralizing major centres of development, there would be all-round progress in the state. The objective is to provide equal opportunities to all places from Srikakulam to Chittoor and Anantapur to Nellore.

The Sivaramakrishna committee had specifically suggested de-centralized location of the new capital which was ignored by the TDP government. It also decided to go against the recommendation of the committee which said that the area by the river Krishna was unsuited for the development of a new capital.

Buggana pointed out that the TDP government had resorted to multiple irregularities in the construction of the capital, including insider trading, forcible land acquisition and irregularities in construction of buildings. At first, the TDP leaders propagated the name of Guntur and Nuzvid. Later after the TDP bigwigs and their proxies bought huge tracts of land in and around the present capital, the location of Amaravati was announced on June 2, 2014, Buggana said.

Buggana revealed that Chandrababu Naidu's brother-in-law and Nara Lokesh's father-in-law, actor and Hindupur MLA, Balakrishna bought 400 acres near Jaggayyapeta at a cost of Rs. 1 lakh per acre. The value of an acre there was around Rs. 50-60 lakhs, he said. The AP finance minister said that even D- Patta lands were not spared and were bought by the TDP leaders after changing their status for this purpose.

The YSRCP government would review decisions involving such irregularities, he said. After conducting an inquiry into the scam surrounding the capital, the government would study the report and act accordingly, the finance minister remarked. The decision would be announced officially at that point, he further said.

The AP finance minister stated that the proposed probe would cover allocation of lands and the assignees in question, their original owners, proxies and other related aspects. No one however, powerful, would be spared if he had committed any wrong, Buggana revealed. He also said that TDP leaders indulged in real estate business in the name of land pooling. While the TDP leaders sold land in the capital region for Rs. 20-50 lakhs, they sold it to government agencies for 4 crore rupees per acre, he revealed.

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