Andhra opposition party TDP has vowed to move court if the government headed by YSRCP forces former CM Chandrababu Naidu to shift out of his riverfront residence at Undavalli in Amaravathi. The TDP has said this in response to remarks made by YSRCP MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, who had earlier said the Naidu will be made to vacate his house, which he said is an illegal construction.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday Ramakrishna Reddy, the YSRCP legislator from Mangalagiri, said that Naidu's residence at Undavalli is “definitely an illegal construction and our legal fight against all illegal constructions will continue till they are vacated and demolished.”
“We will make Naidu vacate the illegal construction through legal processes," Ramakrishna Reddy had said.
This comment by the YSRCP leader invoked strong reactions from the TDP, and party leaders in turn also threatened to take the legal route if Naidu is forced to evict. Speaking to TNM on Wednesday, TDP spokesperson Dinakar Lanka said, "If the new government forcibly evicts the former CM, we won't have much of a choice but to go the legal route ourselves.”
The residence in question was a Krishna riverfront guest house leased out to Naidu during his tenure as Chief Minister. Naidu had even sanctioned the construction of Praja Vedike, a state government-owned media centre, next to his residence to cut down on long commutes. The building was used by the former CM to hold press conferences and meet government officials.
Better Andhra Pradesh (BAP), an organisation working on social and environmental issues, has said that there are as many as 78 structures along the Krishna river that are in violation of the River Conservancy Act 1884, that prevents the construction of any structure within 500 meters of the river bed. After BAP brought the issue to the fore, Alla Ramakrushna Reddy took it up and filed a PIL against the constructions in the High Court, seeking demolition. However, the direction by the court to officials to take action was not followed by the TDP government.
YSRCPs attention to the illegal construction along the Krishna river basin was reignited after the former Chief Minister sent a letter to the AP Chief Secretary seeking that the Praja Vedike building be allotted to him as his "office annexe". The position of Leader of Opposition in the AP Assembly held by Naidu has cabinet rank perks.
The YSRCP government is yet to announce their decision on the former CM’s request. Statements from their legislators and senior party leaders, however, indicate the state government is not too keen on allocating the premises to Naidu.