Hyderabad: BRS Working President K. Tarakarama Rao on Thursday challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to order a judicial probe into KCR family assets and face similar scrutiny of his own family. KTR issued the challenge while rejecting the Chief Minister’s allegations against KCR and disputing his claims over the former Chief Minister’s agricultural holdings.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, KTR said a sitting High Court or Supreme Court judge could conduct the inquiry. He said the BRS would fully cooperate with such a probe and accept action if investigators established any wrongdoing. He added that the government could initiate the process for choosing the judge.
KTR said the inquiry could examine KCR family assets from 1954, the year of the former Chief Minister’s birth, until 2026. He said the same test should apply to Revanth Reddy’s family from the Chief Minister’s birth to the present. KTR said the BRS had confidence in the judiciary and was prepared to submit its assets for scrutiny.
The challenge followed allegations made by Revanth Reddy in the Legislative Assembly. KTR strongly disputed those allegations and accused the Chief Minister of making unsubstantiated claims against KCR and other BRS leaders. He also accused Revanth Reddy of using the Assembly to divert attention from governance issues.
KTR focused particularly on Revanth Reddy’s claims about KCR’s agricultural land. He recalled that Revanth Reddy had earlier repeatedly alleged that KCR owned a “1,000-acre farmhouse”. However, KTR said the Chief Minister had now referred to 67 acres.
KTR said KCR had declared about 40 acres of agricultural land in his 2014 election affidavit. He said KCR subsequently bought another 27 acres after paying stamp duty and registration charges. According to KTR, KCR had disclosed his land holdings through election affidavits and had not concealed the transactions.
He challenged Revanth Reddy to identify the remaining 933 acres if his earlier claim of a 1,000-acre farmhouse was correct. KTR said the Chief Minister should answer for the difference between his earlier allegation and the latest figure.
KTR also rejected suggestions that KCR had accumulated his agricultural property through political office. He said the former Chief Minister was born into an agricultural landowning family in Chintamadaka in 1954. According to KTR, the family owned hundreds of acres before KCR was born.
He said KCR’s family had a long association with agriculture and land ownership. KTR also referred to family property affected by the Upper Manair project and subsequent land purchases at Chintamadaka. He said government records could establish the family’s earlier land holdings.
KTR said KCR had continued farming during different stages of his political career. He recalled KCR farming at Chintamadaka while serving as a minister and later cultivating land at Dasarlapally in Kandukur mandal. He said KCR had grown papaya and watermelon there before later continuing farming elsewhere.
The BRS leader also referred to Revanth Reddy’s previous allegations concerning government buildings. He recalled claims about 150 bedrooms and “golden bathrooms” at Pragathi Bhavan. KTR also referred to earlier allegations about tunnels beneath the new Secretariat.
He argued that the latest allegations against KCR should be viewed against those earlier claims. KTR maintained that Revanth Reddy had repeatedly made allegations that were either inconsistent or unsupported.
Turning to the Assembly session, KTR accused the government of concentrating on political allegations instead of public problems. He demanded that the session be extended for one month. He also sought the withdrawal of the suspension of BRS legislators so the principal Opposition could raise public issues.
KTR said retired government employees were waiting for retirement benefits and had protested over pending dues. He argued that the Assembly should discuss their problems and provide clarity on payments.
He also alleged that farmers were struggling because of inadequate electricity supply. KTR said farmers had staged protests near substations after facing interruptions. He also cited an industrialist who, according to him, said industries were relying on generators for about 30% of their operating time.
KTR said the Assembly should discuss the power situation and explain how the government planned to address it. He argued that farmers and industrial units needed clarity rather than political accusations.
The BRS leader also raised pending fee reimbursement dues, which he put at Rs 12,000 crore. He said students were facing difficulties while private college managements were struggling because of delayed payments. KTR said some managements had approached the BRS seeking intervention.
He also raised the concerns of farmers under the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal. KTR said farmers wanted a clear schedule for water releases before deciding whether to sow crops. They also needed clarity to decide which crops they could cultivate, he said.
KTR questioned the status of Rythu Bima and alleged that the government had not paid the required insurance premium. He asked why farmers were no longer receiving the Rs 5 lakh benefit available under the previous government.
He also sought clarity on the promised job calendar and employment notifications. KTR questioned when the government would deliver the jobs promised to unemployed youth.
The BRS leader raised several other Congress commitments, including Rs 2,500 in monthly financial assistance to women. He also referred to enhanced pensions, scooters, Vidya Bharosa cards and financial incentives linked to different stages of education.
KTR further raised the demand for Rs 18,000 remuneration for ASHA and Anganwadi workers. He said these groups were waiting for the government to fulfil its commitments.
On BC welfare, KTR accused the Congress government of failing to meet its financial commitments. He also disputed the government’s handling of BC population figures and questioned spending on BC welfare.
KTR asked the government to implement its commitments to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He specifically referred to promises concerning Dalit Bandhu and the Congress party’s SC and ST declarations.
KCR family assets challenge widens into Section 22A land row
KTR then turned to the controversy over lands included on the prohibited list under Section 22A. Referring to Revanth Reddy’s Assembly statement, he said the Chief Minister had acknowledged that around 30 lakh acres of private land figured on the prohibited list.
According to KTR, the Chief Minister had said landowners must produce documents to establish their claims. KTR argued that the government should instead correct private properties that had been wrongly placed on the list.
He alleged that affected families were unable to register their properties because of the restrictions. He said some owners could not use their properties to secure education, crop or business loans. KTR accused the government of forcing affected landowners to approach authorities to resolve problems it had created.
KTR demanded an inquiry into properties placed under Section 22A. He also sought scrutiny of lands subsequently removed from the prohibited list. He alleged that commissions were being collected for resolving such cases.
The BRS leader then levelled allegations concerning land transactions against members of Revanth Reddy’s family. He also made allegations involving Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and his family. These claims were presented by KTR during the press conference without supporting documentation.
KTR referred to Lagacharla and alleged irregularities involving land connected to the Chief Minister’s relatives. He also referred to Vattinagulapally and Singareni-related contracts while making allegations against people linked to the government.
He separately alleged that 379 acres at Nadargul had been placed under private control despite figuring under Section 22A. KTR claimed the land was worth about Rs 10,000 crore. He did not produce supporting documents for these allegations during the press conference.
KTR said the BRS would continue pursuing the Section 22A issue until the government addressed the restrictions. He linked the controversy to the government’s changes in the land administration system and accused it of misusing the process.
Rejecting another allegation made against BRS leaders, KTR challenged Revanth Reddy to publish a white paper on alleged land encroachments in Sircilla. He referred to the Chief Minister’s claim concerning 8,000 acres and demanded specific details.
KTR asked the government to identify the villages, survey numbers and extent of the alleged encroachments. He also demanded that it name the people responsible if the government stood by its allegation.
He cited individual cases to argue that land described as encroached had different legal and historical backgrounds. KTR said some properties involved old allotments, regularised occupations and pattas issued to farmers.
He referred to Thota Agaiah, whom he described as a former Naxalite who had surrendered. KTR said the then TDP government allotted Agaiah 3.5 acres in 2000 as part of rehabilitation. He alleged that the present government later took back the land because of Agaiah’s association with the BRS.
KTR also referred to land connected to BRS leader Bolli Ram Mohan. He said Ram Mohan had purchased and registered the property in December 2007, when the Congress was in power. KTR questioned how that transaction could now be described as an illegal occupation.
He also cited lands around Rayini Cheruvu in Sircilla. KTR said workers had received small plots there decades ago and that the BRS government later regularised them.
Similarly, he referred to podu pattas issued to tribal farmers in Veernapalli mandal. KTR argued that land covered by such pattas should not automatically be described as encroached property.
He also referred to long-standing occupation of government land around expanding areas near Sircilla. KTR said families had cultivated land or built homes there over the years. He argued that the history of individual properties had to be examined before describing them as encroachments.
KTR said BRS leaders had already challenged the government’s broader land allegations. He referred to statements by T. Harish Rao, G. Jagadish Reddy and other party leaders rejecting claims against them.
According to KTR, the party was willing to submit the assets and transactions of its leaders and families for judicial scrutiny. He repeated that the same standard should apply to the Chief Minister and his family.
KTR said an inquiry by a sitting judge would provide an independent forum to examine the competing claims. He maintained that the BRS would cooperate and accept the consequences if any illegality was established.
Concluding, KTR said the BRS would continue raising Section 22A restrictions, farmers’ problems and pending welfare commitments. He said the party would also pursue questions concerning jobs, pensions, fee reimbursement and other promises made by the Congress government.
He reiterated his challenge to Revanth Reddy to initiate an independent judicial inquiry. KTR said the probe should cover KCR family assets and apply the same scrutiny to the Chief Minister’s family.