Valuable Lands Given Away Cheaply: Perni Nani Targets AP Govt

Former minister and YSR Congress Party leader Perni Nani on Monday alleged that the AP State government is allotting valuable lands to private entities at throwaway prices, terming the practice “deeply concerning and unjust.” He was speaking at a discussion organised in Guntur under the aegis of the Jana Chaitanya Vedika on alleged irregularities in land allotments.

Addressing the gathering, Nani claimed that lands worth crores are being handed over to influential entities for as little as 99 paise. He alleged that only a few such government orders (GOs) have come to light, while several others remain undisclosed. He further accused the government of eyeing not only public lands but also temple properties, and criticised what he described as a “new and questionable approach” to land allocation.

Former minister Vadde Shobhanadreeswara Rao, who also participated in the discussion, said the government acts merely as a trustee of public assets and has no authority to transfer them arbitrarily. He described the allotment of land in Visakhapatnam to certain companies at nominal prices as “unacceptable.”

He further pointed out what he termed as contradictions in the government’s priorities, noting that while it claims a lack of funds to complete medical colleges, it is simultaneously proposing large-scale infrastructure projects such as an Outer Ring Road (ORR) for Amaravati.

Recalling past instances, he said attempts made between 2014 and 2019 to allot Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada to a Chennai-based company were challenged in court and stalled. He added that similar efforts to allocate the RTC bus stand land in Vijayawada were also legally opposed and prevented.