Narasaiah, a land owning farmer in Ippatam village in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district, lost a part of his house in a demolition drive done on November 4 as part of the village development plan. When this reporter visited Ippatam, a furious Narasaiah told that all the water pipes in his house were broken and his family had no water supply. He alleged that the officials demolished much more than needed of his front yard. “We did not know that it would cut into the vehicle ramp at the front of the house,” he said.
Kalyani, who lives in the same neighbourhood, said that her family cooperated with the officials and did not have any problem with the demolition. She told TNM, “The markings were made more than six months ago. They gave us notice too. I don’t have any problem giving away government land to the government.”
What is playing out between these two residents is part of a political shadowboxing game between Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan. On November 4, 53 houses were demolished in Ippatam. The government claimed that the demolition was carried out under a development plan while Pawan said it was political revenge because the village residents offered him land to organise an event for Jana Sena Party (JSP), which he heads.
In February 2020, the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department issued an order merging eight gram panchayats into Tadepalli municipality. In March 2021, another order was released notifying the merger of Tadepalli and Mangalagiri municipalities into the Mangalagiri Tadepalli Municipal Corporation (MTMC). On November 4 this year, the municipality officials removed encroachments made by 53 houses in Ippatam, which falls under Tadepalli mandal. The village is about 3 km from the road that connects to the Guntur-Vijayawada highway and 3.5 km from the road that connects to the nearest town, Mangalagiri.
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Narsaiah with his family members. Narsaiah alleges that the officials demolished his front yard much more than needed.
Pawan’s accusations and a dramatic rally
Pawan Kalyan formed the JSP on March 14, 2014. On its ninth formation day this year, the party organised an event in Ippatam spread across seven acres of land offered by farmers from the Kapu community. Addressing the gathering, Pawan promised Rs 50 lakh through the Jana Sena Trust for the development of the village. That is when Ippatam came into the limelight. It is to be noted that the actor also belongs to the same community and has been mobilising Kapus and gaining their support throughout the state.
A day after the demolition drive, Pawan visited Ippatam to stand in support of the village residents. The police did not allow his vehicle to move beyond the JSP office in Mangalagiri, which is about 7 km from Ippatam. He had to walk a few kilometres and later got on another vehicle to reach the village.
Pawan accused the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government of resorting to rowdyism in demolishing the houses of people who had supported him in organising the JSP event. “This government, which is demolishing houses, will also be demolished soon. A government that is unable to fill potholes is demolishing houses on the pretext of road widening,” he said.
Pawan also alleged that two statues of late CM YS Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR), Jagan’s father, that were occupying a significant part of the road on one side were not taken down for the road widening. “Four statues of national leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and PV Narasimha Rao were removed but the two YSR statues have not been taken down.” After heavy criticism, both the statues were removed over the next three days.
On the same day, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national secretary Nara Lokesh also visited the village and slammed the government for demolishing the houses due to political enmity. “It is really sad that while the people were sleeping, their houses were demolished with a 200-strong police force,” he said. Referring to Mangalagiri MLA Alla Rama Krishna Reddy, he asked, “Where is the MLA? I challenge him to come and visit the village. Ippatam is a small village with around 1,400 voters. Why does it even need a 120-feet road? The MLA did not spend even Rs 2 crore from the Rs 500 crore allocated for the development of Mangalagiri constituency.”
Reddys and Gowdas disagree
Expectedly, the Reddys and Gowdas refuted the allegations raised by the opposition parties. Koti Reddy, a resident from the Reddy community, said, “They are saying that the houses of people who gave land to hold Pawan Kalyan’s meeting were demolished. But officials have removed the encroachments on government lands, not houses. I did not give any land but look at my house, a part of it has been razed,” pointing to his house, and added that houses belonging to all communities were taken down.
Lachi Venkateswarlu, the Ippatam gram panchayat president from YSRCP, belongs to the Gowda community. The compound wall and the front of his house were razed. “I did not object to the demolition. The part that was razed was encroaching on the road that belonged to the government,” he said.
Koti Reddy in front of his house. The banner is put up on the top of the house.
YSRCP Minister Jogi Ramesh slammed Pawan Kalyan at a press conference on November 5, saying, “You’re incapable of winning even one MLA seat and you say that you will lay a highway from Idupulapaya? No houses were demolished, only encroachments were removed for road widening.” The Minister was referring to Pawan’s warning that some day a highway would be built in Idupulapaya, CM Jagan’s native village. Ramesh added that the purpose of Pawan’s visit was to provoke the village residents.
In another press meet, Jogi Ramesh attacked TDP president Chandrababu Naidu. “Chandrababu Naidu is creating drama by sending Pawan and Lokesh to Ippatam even when people have put up banners requesting them not to visit the village.” The Minister claimed that out of 30 people who offered lands for Pawan’s meeting, only one person’s compound wall was razed.
Dispute regarding encroachments
Indla Sambaiyya, who belongs to the Kapu community, alleged that his house was demolished even after he got a stay from the court. “Four of us got a stay from the court around 12 noon. The villagers had dispersed by then and I too went out. They took advantage of this and demolished our houses. The village secretariat office had announced that only encroachments extending onto the road (beyond the drain), if any, should be cleared, but they razed much more of the house than was told to us. It was informed that encroachments would be removed on Saturday, but the drive happened around 6 am on Friday.”
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Mahalaxmi Dora, MTMC deputy town planning officer, explained that Ippatam along with 10 other villages was now merged under MTMC and was being developed to municipality standards. “The markings were done from February 3 to March 4, 2022. Notices were given in April and May. The existing drain is not as per the ‘Field Measurement Sketch’ and there are constructions beyond this drain that are on the government land. We followed due procedure and announced that all encroachments would be removed as per the markings and notices.”
He also stated that the existing road has 10-15-feet of encroachments on either side. As per the government sketch, the road should be minimum 73 feet and maximum 80 feet. He further explained, “According to the old records, the road should be 120 links not 120 feet, which means 80 feet. Earlier, links were used to measure roads.”
The village has open drains on both sides of the road, which were constructed more than a year ago. On one side, there are two YSR statues and a temple. One statue was built by the Gowda community and the other by the Reddy community. The temple acts like a demarcation line, behind which there are houses of the Kapu community.
The JSP village leader said that the drains on one side were constructed only some six months ago and at least 10 feet from the markings to protect the statues. He said that a few people had met the MLA to follow the same procedure on the other side and also behind the temple. The MLA had promised to do so. However, the Village Revenue Officer told TNM that the drains were constructed a year ago. He had no idea who constructed them because the village was merged into a municipality, which meant that it does not fall under the village panchayat purview anymore.
Narasimha is an advocate by profession and also the JSP grama leader. “When the markings were made, they did not inform us the purpose of the markings. It was done without any survey. The panchayat staff members also did not have any information. After we got the notices, we went and met our MLA Alla Rama Krishna Reddy, who promised us that the development works will be carried out without causing any trouble to the residents. We felt a sense of relief after meeting him. The announcement from the village secretariat office did not mention removing structures till the markings. Even though we got a stay from the High Court at around 3 pm, the officials continued the demolition. The YSR statue built by the Gowda community was taken down by residents but the statue built by the Reddy community is still standing.”