Venkaiah gives up land meant for AP poor

Under attack for acquiring land through questionable means, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu has relinquished ownership of 4.95 acres assigne...

Under attack for acquiring land through questionable means, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu has relinquished ownership of 4.95 acres assigned to him by the government in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh way back in 1978.

Naidu’s decision, conveyed by the Nellore district collector G. Anantaramu today, comes in the wake of a controversy raised by media reports that the BJP leader and his family members gained possession of government land meant for distribution to landless poor and weaker sections. Venkaiah was a member of the State Assembly when the land was assigned to him.

The collector, however, clarified that Venkaiah was assigned only 4.95 acres and the land in the name of his relatives including the BJP leader’s father-in-law was actually a private patta land and not given by the government.

The allegation was that Venkaiah and his family members together ‘‘grabbed’’ almost 40 acres of land meant for the poor.

In a press release issued in Nellore, the collector said: ‘‘The matter has been verified thoroughly through the RDO, Nellore. The allegation that more than 40 acres of land was grabbed by Venkaiah and his family members is incorrect and baseless.’’

‘‘A. Masthanaiah Naidu, father-in-law of Venkaiah, owns an extent of 8.56 acres, which is his private patta land. No government land was assigned to either Masthanaiah Naidu or A. Bhaskar Naidu, brother-in-law of Venkaiah. An extent of 4.95 acres was allotted to Venkaiah as he had no land on that date. Further, Venkaiah has sent a letter on August 17 relinquishing the assigned land (4.95 acres) for distribution to the eligible landless poor of the village.’’

According to the collector, the lands have since been taken over and will be assigned to eligible persons.

Story continues below this ad

Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader and AICC secretary V. Hanumanth Rao led a rally of partymen who later staged a dharna in front of the Nellore collectorate demanding that the BJP president should be prosecuted for acquiring land meant for the poor.