From correspondents in Andhra Pradesh, India, 03:02 PM IST
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has rejected allegations by Telugu superstar-turned-politician Chiranjeevi that his government was acting like a broker by selling land to private companies.
The chief minister said that 'criticism for the sake of criticism' was not proper on the part of the new party launched by the actor and he went on to defend the sale of government lands.
Participating in a debate on a Telugu television channel, Reddy said the government was developing assets by making use of unproductive government lands that were vulnerable to encroachment.
Chiranjeevi, while launching his 'Praja Rajyam' in Tirupati Aug 26, came down heavily on the government for selling state-owned land to private companies and for acquiring cultivable land for Special Economic Zones.
'The sale of government land amounts to selling away the future of our children. The government should be custodian of these lands and not act as a broker,' the actor had said.
The chief minister said that land lying idle faced the threat of encroachment and being sold through auction to mobilise funds for various programmes related to public welfare.
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The news under this item is boring due to the terrible frequency of land deal scandals of govts. and their criticism of opposition parties. I did not read the news in full, frankly, there was no need, obviously. But I like Mr Thampis comments on it. But some readers may not be exactly to guess what he omitted to say: the common ideology of all our parties is power as the tool to seek, get and retain by hook or crook, for maximum public loot.
The news under this item is boring due to the terrible frequency of land deal scandals of govts. and their criticism of opposition parties. I did not read the news in full, frankly, there was no need, obviously. But I like Mr Thampis comments on it. But some readers may not be exactly to guess what he omitted to say: the common ideology of all our parties is power as the tool to seek, get and retain by hook or crook, for maximum public loot.
An opposition party anywhere in an Indian state will always oppose land deals of the govt. charging it of corruption,malfeasance or mishandling.When the oppn. party comes to power, it will do exactly what it opposed in the previous ruling party.
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