Double standards in land pooling: Vasireddy Padma

Hyderabad, YSR Congress has demanded that the TDP Government should refrain from taking away land forcibly from reluctant farmers and stop its discrimination in the name of land pooling as TDP leaders’ land holdings are untouched in the exercise.

“While there were rallies and protests against the forcible land pooling on one hand, the holdings of TDP leaders in the CRDA limits are intact,” party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma told reporters here on Thursday.

Farmers are being threatened that they would be implicated in cases with officials going after those having small land holdings while TDP Ministers, MPs, MLAs and other leaders who have either purchased or have larger holdings are untouched and the CRDA officials or Police have never touched them.

All this is being done with the encouragement of the Chief Minister and it is time, the Government understands the gravity of the situation, she said and had shown video clippings of farmers, rallies and a woman expressing her ire against the CRDA and land pooling and vehemently opposing to give up their land.

“The mood of the area is against the land acquisition and if TDP government continues its coercive methods, we will be with the farmers in the fight for justice. Government should concede to their demands, pacify them and solve the issue amicably instead of misusing official machinery,” she said.

On the Rs 500 crores released by Centre towards resource gap, she said, this clearly shows that the Rs 16,000 crores deficit shown by the State is false. In the pre-budget session held at Vijayawada, it was announced that there would Rs 350 crores surplus. These contrasting signals did not go well with Centre and it is time, the Government gives a true picture, she said.