The Jagan government seems to be tightening the noose around TDP leader Ganta Srinivas Rao.
In early morning drive, the district administration has recovered more than 124 acres of government land from “illegal occupants”, most of whom are powerful politicians, industrialists, and businessmen.
Of the 124 acres government land in Vijayarampuram agraharam in Rambilli Tehsil of Visakhapatnam district, around four acres was allegedly encroached upon by Ganta Srinivas Rao. The GVMC has razed illegal structures in the four acres of land allegedly occupied by the former HRD minister.
The YSRCP government also identified government lands allegedly occupied by Ganta Srinivas Rao and his supporters in Bhemili and rural Vizag The district administration will soon launch a drive to take over the alleged encroached lands.
The move to recover the government lands comes at a time the Indian Bank has moved a step closer to auction the assets of Ganta Srinivas Rao.
The bank will be auctioning some of the assets of Ganta Srinivas Rao to recover total outstanding dues, including interest. Ganta Srinivas Rao’s Pratyusha Company owes Indian Bank Rs 248 crore, including interest. The bank has decided to auction assets in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam on November 25 via e-auction. The bank is likely to auction six properties in Visakhapatnam, Rangareddy district, East Godavari, and Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu. The Indian Bank first-served notices in 2016 to clear the dues, but Pratyusha Company could not meet the deadline to clear the outstanding.
The bank has served notices to auction properties of Pratyusha Resources and Infra, P Raja Rao, representing Pratyusha Resources and Infra, P V Bhaskara Rao, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, and KB Subrahmanyam. The notices were served under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Estates and Enforcement of Security Interest Act.
Ganta Srinivasa Rao had stepped down as director of the company a few years ago. One of his properties has been already attached.
Ganta Srinivas Rao is making attempts to jump the TDP ship to sail with the YSRCP. However, Ganta’s entry into the YSRCP was being blocked by Rajya Sabha MP Vijaysai Reddy and tourism minister Avanthi Srinivas. The three leaders have locked horns over several issues, including corruption charges and the arrest of TDP leaders by the Andhra Pradesh government. Avanti at one point even commented that Ganta will be the next in line to be arrested after TDP leader Atchannaidu and a host of other TDP leaders.
Noose tightens around Ganta Srinivas
Naidu demands CBI probe into joint suicide of Abdul Salaam’s family
TDP national president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday squarely blamed the YSRCP government’s continued harassment for the deaths of a family of four in Nandyal in Kurnool district and demanded that the investigation into the Salaam family suicide be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to bring the facts of the case.
The TDP leader demanded that a special court be set up to deal with the suicide case. He also demanded that the police personnel responsible for the joint family suicide should be dismissed from service. He called upon the TDP leaders and party workers to hold protest rallies and candle demonstrations all over the state for the next three days all over the state.
Naidu accused the Andhra Pradesh police of foisting a false case of robbery against Abdul Salaam based on a false complaint. “The continuous persecution and harassment in the name of a false robbery case led to the suicide of Abdul Salaam, his wife and two children. Suicide was the last resort for Salaam and his family as they could not bear the harassment and police torture. The suicide of Abdul Salaam and his family members is a reflection of the peak to which the YSRCP atrocities have reached in the state,” Naidu said.
Naidu said that the YSRCP government’s persecution of the Muslims in the state was evident from the suicide of Abdul Salaam and his family, Abdul Sattar family in Bommuru, and the molestation of a minor Muslim girl in Rajahmundry.
Naidu also recalled how a 10-year-old Muslim minority girl faced a molestation attempt at Bommuru.
“When the family members of the hapless 10-year-old girl tried to lodge a police complaint, they were threatened to withdraw the case. The police did not stop there. The police went a step further by slapping SC and ST atrocities case against the family members of the 10-year-old Muslim girl. Obscene videos of her mother were taken to harass the family,” he said.
Further, Naidu went on to list the police excesses and growing crime in the state under the YSRCP regime. In the last more than one year rule of Jagan, Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a growing incidents of joint family suicides, gang rapes, murders, tonsures and suicide and molestation attempts.
He said a volunteer ended his life unable to bear the harassment of YSRCP MLA in East Godavari. A Dalit youth in Punganur was forced to commit suicide after he uploaded a video on social media about the ill-effects of the cheap liquor brands that were being sold in the government liquor shops, he said. Naidu also recalled how an Anganwadi worker was subjected to humiliation in Kadapa and the heinous gangrape of a 17-year-old minor girl in Rajahmundry.
YSRCP government banks on cycle
The YSRCP government is heavily banking on cycle.
In a move to accelerate industrial development, industries minister Mekapati Gautam Reddy impressed upon a Taiwanese delegation for bicycle exports. Representatives of Taiwanese companies met Mekapati at the APIIC office in Mangalagiri. The meeting was attended by representatives from Taiwanese companies such as Fox Link, PSA Walsin, Apache, and Green Tech.
He gave a presentation to the Taiwanese delegation in Amaravati on the opportunities of Taiwan bicycle exports. He said e-bicycles are in high demand in rural areas, especially useful for farmers. After a meeting with the Taiwanese team led by Taiwan Director general Ben Wagn, he directed the officials to conduct a survey by November 15 on the usage of cycles in rural Andhra Pradesh.
He tried to hard sell investments in Andhra Pradesh stating that the state has adequate land, skilled manpower, water, ports, airports for a conducive business environment.
Andhra Pradesh’s image as an investment-friendly state was severely damaged following a series of unsavory decisions taken by the Jaganmohan Reddy’s government.
The state received a major blow when Abu Dhabi’s LuLu Group pulled out of a Rs 2,200-cr project after the Jagan government canceled the land allotted by the previous TDP government. Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had roped in LuLu Group and allotted 14 acres of land in Visakhapatnam for the construction of an international convention center, shopping mall, and a five-star hotel.
The YSRCP government had also canceled an agreement with the Singapore consortium of companies to develop a start-up area, planned in an area of 1,691 acres, to serve as the financial hub of new Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati. This was followed by Reliance Industries which had withdrawn its move to set up Rs 15,000 crore electronics manufacturing hub near Tirupati, and Adani group pulling out of its proposed data center and tech park at an investment of Rs 70,000-crore.
The Andhra Pradesh government has failed to attract any significant big-ticket investments in the last more than one year of its rule. Mekapati Gautam Reddy’s meeting with the Taiwanese team is unlikely to attract major investments into the state. Most of the Taiwanese companies that met the industry minister are not big investors.
