Land scam: Jagan vows to restore lands to owners

Leader of the Opposition and president of YSR Congress Party YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday lambasted the Nara Chandrababu Naidu government for resorting to illegal land grab in the name of land-pooling.

Addressing a mammoth gathering at ‘Save Vishakapatnam Maha Dharna’ organized by the YSRCP and the Left parties in protest against the land scam in Vishakapatnam district, Jagan declared he would not allow even a single inch of land to be taken by the State government from the farmers and the underprivileged sections.

The land grab scam involving 1.06 lakh acres in Vishakapatnam district is the biggest in the history and it happened with the connivance of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his son Lokesh, he alleged. Stating that Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao, TDP MLAs, MPs and other leaders were on a land grabbing spree, Jagan warned that all those found involved in the scam will be put behind the bars and all the lands will be returned to the legitimate owners after the YSRCP comes to power in 2019. Thousands of revenue records were tampered with to deprive poor farmers of their legitimately owned and assigned lands, he said.

“The Chief Minister was trying to get away with an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team which is nothing but an eyewash”, Jagan said. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the scam to bring the land grabbers to book. Farmers, who lost their lands in Chodavaram, Payakaraopeta, Gajuwaka and other areas, appealed to Jagan to fight on their behalf so that they can get back their lands. The CPI, CPM and Lok Satta members were also present in large numbers in the Maha Dharna. (NSS)