Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday alleged that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was forcingly taking the lands of farmers in his constituency Kodangal for a pharma company owned by his son-in-law.
Addressing a news conference, he claimed that farmers’ lands were being taken away in the name of Pharma Village for Maxbien Pharma company owned by the Chief Minister’s son-in-law.
KTR alleged that for the sake of his son-in-law and another person Annam Sharath, the Chief Minister was forcing farmers to give away their lands.
KTR slammed the Congress government over the manner in which BRS leader and former MLA Patnam Narender Reddy was arrested in Hyderabad.
He said Narender Reddy was not arrested but kidnapped by policemen in plain clothes. Is he a bandit to be arrested in this manner, he asked.
Narender Reddy was arrested by police on Wednesday morning in Hyderabad in connection with the attack on the Vikarabad district collector and other officials by villagers opposing land acquisition for ‘Pharama Village’
KTR alleged that in the name of land acquisition, the Chief Minister was trying to do real estate business by giving lands of SCs, STs and BCs to his family members and followers.
The BRS leader claimed that people were revolting against the ill-advised decisions of the Chief Minister. He said there was no conspiracy in the people’s revolt.
He claimed that people have been opposing the proposed Pharma Village in Kodangal for the last six months. He alleged that the Chief Minister’s brother had threatened farmers refusing to part with their lands.
KTR said the public anger in Kodangal was because of the ill-advised decisions of the Chief Minister.
He slammed the Chief Minister for visiting Maharashtra for the election campaign when farmers were arrested in his constituency.
He said BRS worker Suresh Raj, who was named as the main accused in the attack on officials, is losing his seven acres of land. He claimed that Suresh did not attack anyone but was also only trying to explain distress to the Collector during the public hearing.
Demanding the government to withdraw the proposal of ‘Pharma Village’, KTR said BRS would stand by farmers and people who were opposing the project.
He recalled that then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had planned Pharma City at Mucherla near Hyderabad with the idea to have all pharma companies in one place and to make Telangana the leader in the pharma sector. After strenuous efforts of eight years, about 14,000 acres of land was acquired for Pharma City.
KTR said then Congress leader and the present Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had instigated people by saying Pharma City would create the problem of pollution. After becoming the Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy without ascertaining the facts scrapped the Pharma City project.
The former minister said following the Chief Minister’s announcement farmers had hoped that they would get back their lands. However, a month later, the Chief Minister said Pharma City would not be scrapped and that the government would instead create pharma villages.