‘Past mistakes’ cannot be an excuse for land swap deal, says TTD former Chairman Bhumana

The allegations and counter-allegations by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board Chairman B.R. Naidu and his predecessor Bhumana Karunakar Reddy over the land swap deal took an unexpected turn on Thursday, with the latter appealing to the government to ‘rectify the past mistake’, if any, instead of launching an unending tirade against the YSRCP and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Addressing the media in Tirupati on Thursday, he said the allocation of the land earmarked for a tourism project to the Oberoi Group during the YSRCP’s tenure to set up the Mumtaz Hotel at the foothills of Tirumala could not become an excuse for the present dispensation to part with the precious lands in its place.

“It was during the TDP’s tenure in the late nineties that the land parcels abutting the Tirumala Hills were first alienated for other purposes, be it for tourism project or educational institutions. If you feel that the YSRCP government had made any mistake, you can always rectify it. But swapping the tourism land with a precious chunk of land belonging to the TTD is not a solution,” he said.

Terming the land swap as an ‘illegitimate act’, Mr. Reddy said that the YSRCP would consider moving the court to stall the deal.

“The TTD administration as well as the State government are certainly at fault for resorting to this swap deal. The TTD land can not be used for purposes other than intended, as per the TTD Act,” Mr. Karunakar Reddy said.

Responding to Mr. B.R. Naidu’s personal remarks against him, Mr. Karunakar Reddy said it was not appropriate for his stature as the head of the world-famous religious institution.