How Chandrababu Gifted 14 Acres Of Prime Capital Land To Heritage, His Proxies

The corrupt manner in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu flouted all established norms to favour heritage group of companies owned by his family members, has been reported by Sakshi on previous occasions. Chandrababu's corruption with respect to Amaravati, touted by him as a global capital is widely known. Within a month of assuming office, Chandrababu had selected Tadikonda, Mangalagiri constituencies in Guntur district as likely regions to set up capital city of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. However, Chandrababu kept the entire matter under wraps and ensured that firms owned by his family members and close associates, as also his proxies acquired thousands of acres in the capital region amounting to lakhs of crores of rupees.

Chandrababu also ensured that the Heritage group of companies owned by his family members acquired 14.22 acres in the capital region which he had zeroed upon. As it turned out, quite unsurprisingly Chandrababu announced the location of the new capital in the same place. Moreover, he also made sure that the land acquired by Heritage was beyond the purview of land pooling. Sakshi's investigation had earlier revealed that he had even ensured that the master plan for the Inner Ring Road was drawn up to pass by right in front of land owned by Heritage. Needless to say, one can imagine the worth of this land today four years down the road!

Insider Trading

As soon as Chandrababu Naidu took oath of office as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, he had selected areas which fall under Tadikonda and Mangalagiri constituencies of Guntur district for location of the new capital. He then resorted to insider trading and according to a design, drove his propaganda machine declaring Nuzvidu in Krishna district, Nagarjuna Sagar University in Guntur district and Eluru in West Godavari district as likely places for the new capital. Resultantly, realtors and people drawn from various segments of society invested heavily in land in these places. Chandrababu Naidu then changed his plan strategically.

He then unveiled his new plan which reflected his true motives. On December 28, 2014 the AP government officially declared this very place as the capital region. He announced that Amaravati will be built at Tulluru Mandal in Tadikonda constituency and Tadepalli in Mangalagiri mandal and constituency. At one stroke, prices of land which were at around Rs 5 lakhs an acre skyrocketed. Land prices shot through the roof hitting as high as Rs 3 to 5 crores per acre. In one fell swoop, Chandrababu, his proxies and close associates amassed an illegal fortune of thousands of crores.

On January 1, 2015, the Chandrababu Naidu government brought out a notification on land pooling and included 29 villages located in Tulluru and Mangalagiri mandals of Guntur district. He kept land owned by his close associate Lingamaneni's firms at Kantheru village in Tadikonda mandal out of the purview of land pooling. Land was acquired up to Nidamarru village in Mangalagiri mandal. Interestingly enough, Kantheru village is located right next to Nidamarru. Land acquired by Chandrababu's family business Heritage Foods and that of his close associate Lingamaneni Estates, covering hundreds of acres is located at Kantheru. Thus Chandrababu Naidu made sure that land belonging to both Heritage and Lingamaneni Estates was strategically in their posession and out of the purview of land pooling. It is worth pointing out here that Lingamaneni Ramesh and his brother Venkata Surya Rajasehkar are extremely close to CM Chandrababu. Speculation has been rife for a long time that they are his proxies. Another interesting facet to this murky episode is that Chandrababu Naidu's official residence on the banks of the River Krishna is an illegally constructed by Lingamaneni Estates. This firm also has hundreds of acres in Tadikonda and Mangalagiri constituencies in Guntur district, among which are assigned lands and disputed ones as well. What is worth pointing out is that the TDP government has forcibly acquired lands from farmers. At the same time it has ensured that there is an astronomical rise in the prices of lands owned by Chandrababu's proxies and associates.

Also Read: Amaravati-Land Fooling Or Land Pooling?

Chandrababu's Generosity Towards Family Owned Heritage

It was on June 8, 2014 that TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He had sworn to uphold the confidentiality of his office as mandated by the clause of Official Secrets.

The travesty of this is that he misused his office for selfish gains and used it to amass an illegal fortune.

Within one month of assuming office on July 7, 2014, Heritage Foods bought large chunks of lands in Survey numbers 27/3B, 22/2A, 63/1, 62/2B, 27/3 spread over 7.21 acres in Kantheru village of Thadikonda mandal at a throwaway price of Rs 67.68 lakhs from Vijayawada based Movva Sri Lakshmi. Interestingly, Sri Lakshmi had acquired possession of these lands through a GPA earlier.

Two months later, on September 8,2014, Heritage Foods once again acquired 2.46 acres of land at a nominal cost of Rs 19.68 lakhs in Kantheru village, this time around in survey numbers 56 and 63/2B. This land too had been in possession of One Chigurupati Venkatagiridhar through a GPA. Venkatagiridhar sold these large holdings to Heritage at a nominal price as stated.

On the same day, September 8, 2014, Heritage went on to acquire some more land spread over 4.55 acres in the same Kantheru village in Survey numbers 56, 63/1 and 63/2B. What is noteworthy is that the land was acquired by Lingamaneni Projects Pvt Ltd, Lingameneni Info city Pvt Ltd for a meagre sum of Rs 36.40 lakhs. This is how Heritage Foods went on to buy 14.22 acres of prime capital land at a throwaway price of Rs 1,23,76,000. These lands fall under the purview of the sub-registrar's office at Tadikonda in Guntur district, but were inexplicably, registered at the sub-registrar's office in Pedakakani.

The twists and turns of the inner ring road in Amaravati master plan

It was proposed to lay a 250 feet wide inner ring road around Amaravati as per the master plan. What is of special interest is the fact that the proposed inner ring road was planned in such a way that it would pass by bang in front of the lands acquired by the Heritage Foods. The ring road passes through Survey No. 27/3A in Kantheru as per the master plan. Similarly, on either side of the road land is owned by Heritage Foods and Lingamaneni group of companies. Moreover, land owned by both these companies has been exempted from land pooling. All this makes it abundantly clear that the masterplan of the inner ring road was drawn up to ensure that both Lingamaneni group as well as Heritage Foods benefit the most from it.

Also Read: Chandrababu Betrayed Local Engineers By Allotting Amaravati Work To Singapore Companies: YS Jagan