The Telangana Congress has alleged that a scam worth several crore rupees has taken place in the recently concluded auction of government land in Hyderabad’s Kokapet area. The party has called for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the e-auction and an investigation into those who bought the 49.92 acres of land from the state. Telangana witnessed political turmoil on Monday morning, with the police placing several Congress leaders under house arrest. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Revanth Reddy, who was also put under house arrest, told the media that the move was an attempt by the TRS government to prevent him from revealing details of the alleged scam on the floor of the Parliament in Delhi.
The leader alleged that the auctioned land has been claimed by relatives and bureaucrats close to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. His son, cabinet minister KT Rama Rao who heads the Municipal Administration and Urban Development that carried out the e-auction through the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), is also accused of wrongdoing by the Congress.
"I had warned the state government that I'll give a complaint to the Prime Minister, Home Minister and the CBI Director in Delhi over this and raise the issue in Parliament,” Revanth Reddy told ANI. He added, “If we raise voices against the state government’s loot, they book us, arrest us and place us under house arrest. We will fight against it.” The leader also wrote a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker about his house arrest.
I was ready to go to Parliament but state govt deployed Police to place me on house arrest. It happened because state govt sold some properties, over 50 acre of land, to some of their relatives, party leaders & IAS officer at undervalue: Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy pic.twitter.com/HBMEarXKlG
— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2021
A Congress activist has also written a letter to the CBI with details on firms that had managed to win the bids at the e-auction and their alleged links with the state's Chief Minister. The Congress has also accused the Chief Minister of allegedly acquiring land through a network of benamies. The party has further accused a prominent businessman, who owns a construction firm, of being the Chief Minister’s benami.
The HMDA, on July 15, auctioned off 49.92 acres of open plots at Kokapet. The auction was contested in the Telangana High Court by the BJP and also by environmental activist Lubna Sarwath. The state government told the High Court that it had decided on the land auction for two reasons — to help the state's revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic, and due to the difficulty in protecting these lands from encroachers.
The HMDA had set a base price of Rs 25 crore per acre for the land, and the e-auction netted
Rs 2,000 crore. The Congress, however, claims that as per the market rates, the auction should have raked in Rs 3,000 crore, and alleges a scam of Rs 1,000 crore as having taken place.
In its letter to the CBI, the Congress worker said that Rajapushpa properties private limited, which bought 7.755 acres of land, allegedly belongs to relatives of Siddipet Collector Venkatram Reddy. The party said they had earlier filed complaints against the firm for violating National Green Tribunal (NGT) directions. The Collector was recently in the news for touching the feet of the Chief Minister to seek his blessings, at the opening of the district headquarters.
Manne Satyanarayana Reddy of MSN Laboratories private limited, a brother of TRS leader Manne Srinivas Reddy, was a successful bidder for 7.721 acres for Rs 325.83 crore at Rs 42.2 crore per acre.
The Congress alleged that other companies that bid in the auction were also connected to the Telangana Chief Minister. The party accused the Chief Minister of allegedly accumulating thousands of acres of land through his benamis around Hyderabad’s Outer Ring Road (ORR).
The Telangana government has plans to develop satellite townships around the ORR through an integrated township policy. The policy aims to encourage real estate development beyond the ORR to build infrastructure and townships catering to employment generation. These integrated townships are being planned beyond the ORR, extending 30 to 40 km till the upcoming Regional Ring Road (RRR).
The TRS has denied all allegations levelled by the Congress, with the party's general secretary Bodakunti Venkateswarlu, stating that the auctions were held online and that opposition parties should stop damaging Hyderabad's image.