Y S Chowdary scoffs at Andhra govt claims he benefited from Amaravati land deals

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has accused Rajya Sabha MP Y S Chowdary -- who recently shifted from the TDP to the BJP -- of reportedly using “insider information” in purchasing land in the Amaravati region much before the city was declared the state capital.

"Chandrababu (former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu) had leaked the information to his close aides about the proposed capital Amaravati. Many TDP leaders, including Y S Chowdary, purchased land at low cost from the Amaravati farmers. After all the lands were in the name of TDP leaders or their relatives, on September 4, 2014, Chandrababu Nadu announced Amaravati as the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh," IANS quoted from a government statement released on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Chowdary had denied owning land in Amaravati. But the state government on Wednesday revealed he was allegedly in possession of over 623 acres of land.

The statement said that Chowdary and his family members had bought 623.12 acres of land inside and around the capital area region skirting the land pooling zone.

YSRCP has alleged that then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and those close to him resorted to 'insider trading' by buying land at throwaway prices before deciding on Amaravati as the state capital, the IANS report said.

The government revealed that Chowdary, who is locally popular as Sujana Chowdary, purchased 110.6 acres in Gudimetla village of Krishna district at Rs 5 lakh per acre before the announcement of Amaravati as the state capital.

"The land was bought by one Jatin Kumar, who heads one of the 120 shell companies of Chowdary," said the official statement revealed by news agency IANS.

The statement said that Chowdary's nephew Yelamanchali Jathin Kumar also made huge profits by establishing Shiva Jyothi Flycon Blocks Private Limited in 11.56 acres of land.

Chowdary had adopted Ponnavaram village, where he purchased 13.39 acres in the name of his father Y Janardahana Rao. Another 3.5 acres was purchased by him in the name of his brothers Y. Shiva Ramakrishna, Y. Shivalinga Prasad, and his wife Y. Susheela Kumar.

The Andhra BJP MP also purchased land in the name of SJK Biotech Pharma Private Limited in Chandapuram village, the statement said.

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and his party YSR Congress have alleged that Y S Chowdary was in fact a major beneficiary in the land deals.

Refuting the allegations, Chowdary had said, "All the allegations are baseless and the funny part is that they simply added up the properties of various people carrying my family name."

Senior minister Botsa Satyanarayana had recently said that Amaravati may be an unsafe location for the new capital as it lies in a "flood-prone" zone and it would work out doubly expensive due to the nature of the terrain.

To this, Chowdary said the government would have to face the farmers' ire if they shifted the capital out of Amaravati.

Satyanarayana has also put out in public domain documents and information that suggest that Chowdary benefited from the land deals.

There are reports that Jagan Mohan Reddy may opt for four capital cities located in different parts of the state.

YSR Congress has long opposed the idea of setting up the state capital in Amaravati, as envisioned by Chandrababu Naidu. Different statements from Andhra Pradesh ministers have fuelled uncertainty on the fate of Amaravati as the state's capital, the BJP said on Wednesday and asked the government to make its position clear on the matter.