Vizag MP Satyanarayana and Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy have accused each other over Vizag land deals, exposing fissures in the YSRCP.
Published Oct 14, 2022 | 10:20 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 14, 2022 | 10:20 AM
A view of the Daspalla lands in Vizag. (Alla Pydiraju)
The controversy over the the Daspalla lands in Vizag has not only landed the YSRCP in hot waters, but has also exposed chinks in the ruling party’s seemingly impenetrable armour.
Vizag MP MVV Satyanarayana’s open attack against YSRCP Rajya Sabha member V Vijaysai Reddy, the virtual No 2 in the party after Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has provided a rare glimpse into the internal bickering and rumblings in the party.
Vijaysai Reddy and Satyanarayana have accused each other of murky land deals at a time real estate prices are touching all-time highs, thanks largely to the coastal city being declared the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh under the Jagan government’s three-capitals plan.
Needless to say, these accusations have provided ammunition to Opposition parties like TDP and Jana Sena.
TDP had already launched a campaign charging that the YSRCP government wanted Vizag as the executive capital so that leaders of the ruling party could grab valuable land in the port city.
The TDP has in particular been running a sustained campaign against an agreement signed by a real estate company to develop the controversial Daspalla Lands.
It has highlighted allegations that the real estate company that signed a development agreement with the Dasapalla owners had received funds from another real estate company — this one owned by the daughter and son-in-law of Vijaysai Reddy.
Vijaysai Reddy, in trying to offer a clarification and come out clean in the controversy, asked why a section of media was not writing about a similar development agreement reached for a land site in Kurmannapalem in Vizag.
He said the Kurmannapalem land development agreement offered less than one percent of the share to the land owners.
The 10.5 acres of land in question in Kurmannapalem is being developed by Satyanarayana’s real estate and construction firm, MVV Builders, in collaboration with another local construction firm.
Vizag MP MVV Satyanarayana (FB page)
Satyanarayana has been in the real estate business and a builder for more than three decades, well before he joined active politics ahead of the 2019 polls.
Enraged over Vijaysai Reddy’s comments, the Vizag MP went ballistic, even contending that the daughter and son-in-law of Vijaysai Reddy have been buying land in Vizag left, right and centre in the last few years.
It was a rare occasion when two senior YSRCP politicians were involved in a public spat, especially one that offered the Opposition fodder to attack the party.
Vijaysai Reddy is an auditor-turned-politician and is also accused No 2 in the quid pro quo cases filed by the CBI against YSRCP supremo Jagan Mohan Reddy. Vijaysai Reddy also spent time in jail along with Jagan in the cases.
Party general secretary and government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Chairman and Jagan’s uncle YV Subba Reddy, and Vijaysai Reddy are seen as the top aides of Jagan.
YV Subba Reddy, Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, V Vijaysai Reddy are Jagan’s closest aides. (Supplied)
After YSRCP came to power, Vijaysai Reddy was given a Rajya Sabha berth. He was also made head of the party’s parliamentary wing in Delhi, and was, till April, in charge of party affairs in north Andhra, which includes Vizag.
However, in April, as part of a rejig, Jagan replaced Vijaysai Reddy with his uncle Subba Reddy as the party’s regional coordinator for north Andhra.
At that time, there was widespread speculation that Jagan had clipped Vijaisai Reddy’s wings.
However, within days, Vijaysai Reddy was given oversight of all the newly-appointed party coordinators and also all its district presidents. Besides, he was also handed the task of coordinating all the frontal organisations of the party.
Given his profile, targeting Vijaisai Reddy is as good as targeting the YSRCP supremo.
The Opposition TDP, which has been waiting for an opportunity to corner the YSRCP, has found it in the Dasapalla lands issue. The TDP’s aggression has only intensified with the YSRCP evolving a strategy to counter the Amaravati stir backed by the Opposition party.
Former MLA and senior TDP leader Dhulipala Narendra on Wednesday, 12 October, asked Chief Minister Jagan Reddy whether the people had given a massive mandate to the YSRCP to develop the state or to help associates like Vijayasai Reddy to go on looting spree.
The senior TDP leader asked the YSRCP MP as to how he, his daughter and son-in-law could create such huge assets for their companies in just three-and-half years.
“Vijayasai Reddy and his supporters, under the guise of the executive capital, began land-grabbing in Visakhapatnam. Bhogapuram airport, Panchagramala regularisation and Prema Samajam lands too are no exception. Isn’t it a fact that the YSRCP MP and his followers entered into agreements forcibly with the land owners,” he asked.
With Assembly elections due in little over a year, the trading of allegations and counter-allegations by the TDP and YSRCP can only intensify, and the Dasapalla land controversy will continue to be in sharp focus.
