A land dispute between Telangana’s ruling Congress party and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has intensified, with both sides trading accusations of illegal land occupation. BRS leaders allege that Congress leaders are attempting to grab people’s lands under the guise of the 22A land classification and the proposed Future City project, and have staged protests at the disputed sites. In response, Congress leaders have accused former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), former ministers K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), T. Harish Rao and Jagadishwar Reddy, along with other BRS leaders, of occupying hundreds of acres of land. Congress leaders have visited farmhouses and land parcels linked to these leaders in an attempt to establish that the structures built on them are illegal.
Amid this standoff, KTR and Harish Rao, both senior BRS leaders, have emerged as persistent critics of the state government. In response, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has decided to target them directly through a series of public meetings.
As part of this strategy, Revanth Reddy intends to hold public meetings in Sircilla and Siddipet to counter the BRS leadership. The first such meeting will be held on the evening of Wednesday, September 30, in Sircilla, the assembly constituency represented by BRS working president and former minister K. Taraka Rama Rao. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud are expected to attend as chief guests, along with several ministers and other party leaders.
The plan follows remarks Revanth Reddy made at a recent public meeting in Nakrekal, where he questioned whether the disputed lands belonged to the Kalvakuntla family and issued a public challenge that he would visit Sircilla. Following that challenge, Congress has organised a large-scale public meeting in Sircilla for September 30.
Congress sources say the Chief Minister will hold a similar public meeting in Siddipet, the constituency represented by Harish Rao, in the first week of October. By holding rallies in the constituencies of BRS leaders who have been critical of the government, Revanth Reddy is understood to be seeking to boost morale within Congress ranks.
The controversy over allegedly illegal land holdings has become a prominent issue both in the state at large and within the Legislative Assembly, with leaders of both parties exchanging challenges, allegations and counter-allegations. Against this backdrop, attention is turning to the content of Revanth Reddy’s addresses at the Sircilla and Siddipet meetings.
District Congress leaders, who are treating the meetings as a matter of considerable political importance, have reportedly been instructed by TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud to make arrangements to ensure the public meetings are a success. Preparatory meetings are being held in the respective districts to organise the events.