In a major setback and shocking development to the former chief minister and YCP chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh state government has decided to take back possession of the lands purchased by his family members in the name of Saraswati Power Industries, after they found that there were also assigned lands.
When YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the CM, Jagan’s family members purchased 1,032 acres from farmers in the villages of Chennaipalem, Pinnelli, Vemavaram, Tangeda and Mutyalampadu in the Machavaram mandal of the joint Guntur district (now Palnadu district) in the name of Saraswati Power Industries.
Out of this, 956.42 acres are patta lands and 76.33 acres are dotted land, as recorded in the revenue records. At that time, they were assured that the industry would be built within five to six years of acquiring the lands and providing employment opportunities to the farmers and families who had lost their lands.
But even after about 14 years of purchase, the industry has not been built. In 2014, under the leadership of former Macherla YCP MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, attacked those who came forward to cultivate crops on those lands until a factory was built. After that, Jagan, who took power in 2019, granted water allocations and mining leases without building a factory.
After a dispute arose over the lands of Saraswati Power, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan inspected them on the 4th of November. Before that, the officials of the relevant revenue and forest departments conducted a joint survey and concluded that there was up to 74 acres of forest and assigned land. It was confirmed that 19 farmers in Vemavaram and 13 farmers in Pinnelli had registered 13.80 acres of assigned land for the factory.
The revenue officials issued notices to the respective farmers on how they sold the assigned lands. Since they did not respond, preparations are being made to seize the land. It remains to be seen how the Saraswati management purchased the signed land.