Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Thursday welcomed the House Committee formed to look into the issue of assigned land, but said that it should not be an act of ‘political witch-hunting’.
Responding to the allegation that he had occupied eight acres of land assigned to ‘Dalits’, he said the land that he had bought was sold to him by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, after a large chunk of about 90 acres was allocated to the corporation, which in turn ‘sold’ eight acres to Tirumala Hatcheries. “Everything is official about it,” he declared, when contacted on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders, including Member of the Legislative Council M. Ranga Reddy, senior Congress leaders Mallu Ravi, A. Chandrasekhar, G. Vijayarama Rao and Addanki Dayakar lashed out at the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and accused it of ‘political witch-hunting’. At a press conference held at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, they alleged that the ruling party was only indulging in mud-slinging and nothing else.
“Is the government ready to launch an exercise to find out how much of assigned land and those given to ‘Dalits’ and weaker sections is now in the possession of other people who had forced the poor beneficiaries to sell it to them for a pittance? If so, let Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announce in the House as to when he will be able to come out with such a report,” they declared.
