Naidu's woes: Andhra secretariat to get new gate, compliant with 'vaastu'

However, there was no official response from the state government on the matter.
Naidu's woes: Andhra secretariat to get new gate, compliant with 'vaastu'
Naidu's woes: Andhra secretariat to get new gate, compliant with 'vaastu'
Written by:

Construction work continued on a fifth gate at Andhra Pradesh's temporary secretariat complex at Velagapudi on Thursday, amid much controversy.

According to reports, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ordered the demolition of a part of the wall, to build a gate and an entrance, that was 'vaastu-compliant', to ensure 'good governance'.

Officials of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) brought down the compound wall between Blocks 4 and block 5 on Wednesday.

The move comes as no surprise, as Naidu is known to be a staunch believer in such superstition, and constantly consults his 'vaastu' advisor.

The local media reported that this move came around one month after Gate 1 of the complex, which was used by Naidu to enter the premises, had been closed.

Since then, the CM was using Gate 2 along with the public and other officials.

Quoting sources, the local media reported that this move itself, was done, on the advice of vaastu experts.

While some reports suggest that the state plans to keep the new gate open for visitors and officials, and cordon off Gate 2 exclusively for Naidu, others suggest that Gate 5 would be used by Naidu, once it is built.

There was no official response from the state government on the matter.

However, Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu defended 'changes' that were being made to the secretariat, saying, “Vaastu is a sentiment. What is wrong in honouring it?”

The state administration had started functioning from the Interim Government Complex on October 3, 2016, which reportedly cost the exchequer Rs 180 crore.

This is not the first time that Naidu is in the spotlight for his superstitious beliefs. 

It was earlier reported that the entire new capital of Amaravati itself, was being built in a vaastu-compliant manner, with Naidu's personal vaastu advisor M Raghavaiah camped at the venue, and giving suggestions to the officials.

Naidu also faces stiff competition from his Telangana counterpart, K Chandrasekhar Rao.

In November last year, KCR entered his new official residence, reported to be one of the biggest residences of any Chief Minister in the country.

The complex, spread over 10 acres of land and with about one lakh square feet of built-up space came close to the existing camp office-cum-residence of the Chief Minister in Begumpet.

However, what kicked off a storm, was that the chief minister, who is also a strong believer in ‘Vaastu’, had demolished an existing IAS officers’ association building at the spot, for his new vaastu compliant home.

He had taken this step after the ‘vaastu’ advisors of the TRS chief had advised him against occupying the existing camp office built in 2004, by then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com