Hyderabad: Dismissing charges over his son’s alleged role in the Nadergul land controversy, revenue minsiter Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Wednesday mounted a strong counterattack on the BRS, asserting that all key transactions relating to the disputed land took place during its govt tenure.Addressing the media at the secretariat along with ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Seethakka, he accused former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and ex-ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao of orchestrating a campaign of ‘false allegations’ against him and his family. Throwing an open challenge, Srinivas Reddy said he was willing to apologise if the BRS could prove its claims regarding the Nadergul lands. He maintained that attempts to link his family to both the Nadergul and Vattinagulapally land issues were baseless and politically motivated. Presenting documents, the minister said: “The land in survey No. 613 of Nadergul village, spanning 373 acres, has been under litigation since 2004, with both private parties and the govt winning cases at different times, leading to appeals in higher courts.” He said the crucial registrations and mutations were executed during the previous BRS regime. The land was registered to three companies – United Landmarks Pvt Ltd, Alpha Estates and Omega Development Ventures Pvt Ltd, he said. “Wasn’t the BRS govt that mutated these registration documents on Sept 24, 2016? Who was in power in 2014 and 2016? If mutations were done during the BRS regime, how is the Congress govt connected to this?” he wondered. Reiterating that the land remains under the 22 A Prohibition List, the minister asserted that its status has not been altered by the Congress govt. Responding to allegations involving his son, he said: “My son is not a partner in any of the three companies. I challenge them to prove it. I will take legal action against these false allegations.” Highlighting the timeline of developments, Srinivas Reddy said there were no structures on the land as of Feb 2021, but sheds emerged by Dec 2021 and were completed by Nov 2022, when the BRS was still in power. He also flagged that though an SLP was claimed to have been filed in 2022, no counter was submitted then. ” It was the Congress govt that filed a counter in March 2015,” he said.
