Embattled Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy on Sunday hit out at the Central Bureau of Investigation daring it to inquire into alleged irregularities in land allotments during the regimes of the Telugu Desam Party and the present Congress government headed by N. Kiran Kumar Reddy.
In his first public reaction a day after the CBI filed a charge-sheet in the court in the illegal assets case, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, who is in Guntur as part of his ‘Odarpu yatra,' defended the land allotments during the rule of his father, the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
He said land was allotted to Aurobindo and Hetero Pharmaceutical companies at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district with a view to generating employment in the backward districts.
“When States like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat give land to industries as part of industrial development free of cost, no one questions the integrity of the Chief Ministers there. When my father allotted land to two pharmaceutical companies at Rs. 7 lakh per acre, it is being considered as a crime,” he said.
Referring to the TDP rule, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy said, “Mr. Chandrababu Naidu gave away prime land to IMG, Emaar in Hyderabad for peanuts. Why hasn't the CBI probed these nefarious deals?”
The YSR Congress Party chief hit out at the Chief Minister alleging that he had allotted land to a cement factory at a rate of just Rs.1 lakh per acre.
“I am being framed after I bought the land for Bharati Cements by paying Rs.1 lakh per acre,” the YSR Congress president quipped.
Meanwhile, unfazed by developments, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy is all set to launch poll campaign in Narsapur and Polavaram constituencies in West Godavari and Ramchandrapuram in East Godavari districts from Monday.
These segments will witness by-election in the next few months and he is expected to spend at least a week in the three constituencies.
YSR Congress leaders now plan to focus on the contents of the charge-sheet and take their fight to the courts.
“The party leadership is prepared for a long haul as the CBI had hinted that it will file additional charge-sheets from time to time. This clearly indicates that they plan to continue to push our leader to a corner,” a senior YSR Congress Party leader said.
Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy was mentally prepared for any eventuality including his arrest.
Party leaders said Y.S. Vijayamma would take over the mass contact programme if Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy was arrested.
