Daspalla Lands High-Rise Scam? TDP Leaders Raise Serious Questions!
When Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the first time, one of his key decisions was to halt the Amaravati capital project. The reasoning was that if Amaravati was completed, TDP president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would become financially much stronger in every way. It was also believed that several TDP leaders would benefit from the project, which could politically disadvantage the YSRCP. As a result, the Amaravati project was stalled. Despite farmers who had given their lands for the capital suffering significant losses and the entire capital project descending into uncertainty, Jagan remained unmoved and continued with his chosen course. In this matter, he made decisions purely from a political perspective without considering the interests of the state or the farmers. However, after the coalition government came to power this time, it has allegedly been giving priority to officials, industrialists, and contractors considered close to Jagan. At the same time, it is also said to be extending major benefits to certain favoured individuals.
Unlike Jagan's approach, the coalition government is now taking decisions that are expected to provide benefits worth thousands of crores of rupees to key YSRCP leaders and people considered very close to Jagan through the Daspalla lands in Visakhapatnam. With the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) reportedly giving the green signal for a 100-foot road in the Daspalla land area, the value of the upcoming project is estimated to touch nearly ₹10,000 crore. The reason is that the approval is expected to pave the way for construction of buildings of nearly 30 floors in the area. As a result, those who acquired these lands are expected to reap enormous financial gains. The biggest question now is who stands to benefit and by how much. According to TDP leaders, the entire exercise is being supervised by a key minister in the Andhra Pradesh government, a senior TDP leader, and an MP. They also claim that this group was instrumental in finalising the entire deal.
Ironically, during the YSRCP government, development agreements were allegedly executed with the support of influential people in the government in such a way that the original landowners received only a very small share. Now, it is alleged that a team associated with the coalition has struck a major deal with the builders. It is also being claimed that several benami companies have been brought into the project. The most striking allegation is that even before obtaining all the required approvals, money has reportedly been collected from some people as a one-time settlement in connection with the proposed high-rise buildings on the Daspalla lands. These lands, valued at thousands of crores of rupees, are reportedly in the hands of individuals associated with a pharmaceutical company as well as people close to influential figures from the previous government. Despite this, the coalition government is allegedly rolling out the red carpet for them and facilitating the project. A senior leader remarked that this special treatment is driven purely by financial interests and nothing else.
