YSR Congress corporators staged a walkout from the general body meeting of Zilla Parishad after an acrimonious debate on the land acquisition for capital, here on Friday.
Protesting the State government move to acquire fertile multi-cropped lands, Mangalagiri MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy tore the GO166 which was issued on last Thursday, before staging a walkout with two party MLAs, ZPTCs and MPPs.
Earlier during the meeting, Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao refuted the allegations over forced land acquisition and said that the landowners in the capital region had given their consent to part with 33,800 acres for the construction of the new capital city.
“As many as 33,800 acres have been pooled so far and it shows the trust reposed on us by the landowners. People have already rejected the opposition parties during polls and if they still try to do politics over the issue, they will be permanently rejected by the people,’’ Mr. Pulla Rao said.
In response, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said that the government had been threatening the landowners to giving away their lands.
“The threat of acquiring land under the amended Land Acquisition Act-2013 means that landowners will not have any say and their consent is not required for the land acquisition,’’ the MLA pointed out. YSRC MLAs P. Ramakrishna Reddy and Kona Raghupathi also walked out of the meeting hall.
Earlier, the meeting saw heated arguments between the ruling and opposition party members over the implementation of the ‘Neeru-Chettu’ programme. YSRC members alleged that the programme was an eyewash as there were no concrete results. The excavated mud was being sold away by local leaders, they said.
Refuting the allegations, the Minister said disliting had been undewrtaken in 450 water tanks across the district. The programme has been designed with an intention to harvest rainwater, he added.
As per the amended Act, landowners’ consent is not required for acquiring land
Alla Ramakrishna Reddy,Mangalagiri MLA
As many as 33,800 acres have been pooled so far and it shows the trust reposed on us by landowners
P. Pulla Rao,Agriculture Minister
