Dharmavaram MLA Kethireddy Venkatarami Reddy, in response to allegations levelled against him by TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh, on Monday released a selfie video outside a structure near the Krishna riverbank which he alleged was built illegally by TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son Mr. Lokesh.
On Sunday, Mr. Lokesh had released a selfie of himself standing outside a structure which he had alleged was a guest-house built by the Dharmavaram MLA on encroached land.
Countering the allegations, the MLA released a video of himself titled ‘Reply to Selfie Challenge’, with him standing on the embankment with the said building, named Lingamaneni Guest House, in the background.
Mr. Venkatarami Reddy demanded Mr. Lokesh to prove that this structure was a genuine one and not built on illegally occupied river embankment land, or prove that the guest house built by the MLA in Dharmavaram was also built on illegally acquired property. “If you prove this, I will resign and will not contest the next election,” he said.
Making a 10-minute video on the issues raised by Mr. Lokesh during his Yuva Galam Padayatra in Dharmavaram, Mr. Venkatarami Reddy said that the selfies in the backdrop of sand lorries was laughable as neither he nor Dharmavaram town had any connection with the sand mining business. He demanded that Mr. Lokesh prove that at least one sand lorry was going to Bengaluru from Dharmavaram.
He said he was conducting a ‘Good Morning Dharmavaram’ programme since 2008, much before becoming an MLA in 2019, and that the guest-house was built on land purchased by him legally.
“If a single farmer or landowner lodges a complaint and claims that I had illegally occupied their land, I am ready to quit politics. Is your father too ready to qui?” he retorted.
