Demolition of GITAM varsity encroachments-State not vindictive

Talking to reporters, he brushed aside the allegations of the Telugu Desam Party and recalled that GITAM University which belongs to the son-in-law of TDP MLA and film actor Nandamuri Balakrishna

Visakhapatnam: There was no need for the State government to be vindictive on GITAM University and officials had taken appropriate action against the university which had encroached as many as 40 acres of government lands worth Rs.800 crore, Anakapalle MLA and official spokesman of YSR Congress Party Gudivada Amaranath clarified here on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, he brushed aside the allegations of the Telugu Desam Party and recalled that GITAM University which belongs to the son-in-law of TDP MLA and film actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, had encroached a huge extent of government lands. “During the TDP regime, Chandrababu Naidu gave away valuable lands in Visakhapatnam to his near and dear ones and one among them was GITAM University. It was revealed in a preliminary inquiry by Revenue officials that the University has encroached government lands and the officials took appropriate action,” he stated.

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Noting that the State government is responsible for safeguarding the lands and taking action against illegal encroachments, he said that the opposition leaders were spreading false reports stating that the government was vindictive. The previous TDP government failed to take action on land encroachments in Visakhapatnam and did not make the SIT report public. Unlike the TDP government, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had constituted SIT to investigate the land scams in Visakhapatnam and would take action based on the report, MLA Amarnath said. In this context, he said that all those in the TDP Polit bureau were highly corrupt and that the TDP had made Atchannaidu, who was involved in the ESI scam, as the president of its Andhra Pradesh unit.

Only those who had encroached lands and were involved in corruption were being given posts in the TDP, he remarkied. Pendurthi MLA Adeep Raj who also spoke, said it was a pity that the GITAM University which was named after Mahatma Gandhi was indeed going the Godse way by involving in illegal activities. He said that people were extremely happy as the encroached valuable lands which were taken back and were now in the safe hands of the government. Reiterating that TDP leaders had grabbed lands in Visakhapatnam on a large scale in the previous government, he said that the state government would take action to keep its promise to the people.

The Revenue department on Saturday morning began removing encroachments on government lands and officials clarified that they had warned the university of action nearly five months ago. The university was facing the charge since the last three decades even when N.T. Rama Rao was in power with the then TDP MP from Anakapalle, P. Appalanarasimham holding media conferences to inform the public of the GITAM encroachment of government land.

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