The under-construction YSRCP central headquarters at Tadepalli was demolished early Saturday morning by authorities citing its illegal construction on government land belonging to the irrigation department. However, YSRCP leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy described the action as vendetta politics and accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of acting like a dictator.
The demolition was reminiscent of the knocking down of Praja Vedika, a grievance hall built by Naidu, by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s government soon after assuming office, citing it as illegal.
Significantly, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has also issued a notice to the under-construction YSRCP office in Vizag, terming it as unauthorised.
Early morning in Tadepalli, the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) and the Mangalagiri Tadepalli Municipal Corporation (MTMC) deployed bulldozers and excavators to demolish the YSRCP party office. The YSRCP claimed that the High Court had issued a stay order, which had been conveyed to the APCRDA by the party’s legal counsel.
“A dictator bulldozed the nearly completed YSRCP central office at Tadepalli. The order of the High Court was ignored. Law and justice have completely disappeared in the state. Chandrababu, who is shedding blood due to violent incidents that are taking place after the elections, has given another violent message about how this regime will run through this incident,” said YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on ‘X’ while urging all democratic forces of the country to condemn Chandrababu Naidu’s “misdeeds”.
However, the TDP said that the land belonging to the Water Resources department had been leased out to the YSRCP despite objections raised by the then engineer-in-chief. The tehsildar approved it without seeking clearance from the irrigation department. The TDP further stated that when the YSRCP approached the High Court, it issued orders to follow due procedure and disposed of the petition.
Hence, on Saturday, the APCRDA, MTMC, and the water resources department repossessed the land. The complaint was lodged by TDP’s Guntur district secretary Pothineni Srinivasa Rao, who demanded action against illegal structures.