The Telangana 22-A land issue intensified after former minister and BRS Legislature Party deputy floor leader T. Harish Rao rejected allegations involving land linked to his father-in-law and questioned the government’s handling of properties placed on the prohibited list.
Harish Rao was responding to remarks made by Telangana revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in the Assembly during a discussion on Section 22-A prohibited lands. Section 22-A is used to identify properties that cannot be freely registered, making the accuracy of the list important for landowners, homebuyers and other property transactions.
Harish Rao said his father-in-law was a retired bank official and that the land at the centre of the allegations had been allotted by the Congress government in 1995. He said the same government issued a no-objection certificate in 2010 and that the property was later registered after payment through a cheque.
“The land was allotted by a Congress government, the NOC was given by a Congress government and the registration also took place under a Congress government. The facts are on record,” Harish Rao said, according to the report.
He also disputed the government’s description of land involved in another case. Harish Rao said the land had been acquired for the Godavari Sujala Sravanthi project and not for Mission Bhagiratha, as was claimed by the revenue minister. He added that payment and mutation for the property had also been completed during the Congress government.
The dispute comes as the state government faces questions over the inclusion of properties in the Section 22-A list. Harish Rao described the provision as one of the biggest problems facing people in Telangana and alleged that the Congress government was using personal allegations against BRS leaders to divert attention from the issue.
He further alleged that BRS members had been deliberately suspended from the Assembly so that the government could avoid answering questions on Section 22-A. The report does not include a response from the revenue minister to these specific allegations.
The BRS leader referred to the government’s claim that thousands of houses had been mistakenly included in the prohibited list. He said the government could not avoid responsibility by attributing the errors to officials and demanded a public clarification on the number of acres and properties added to the list, as well as the number subsequently removed.
The Section 22-A dispute has direct implications for property owners because inclusion in the prohibited list can affect registration and the transfer of land. Harish Rao renewed his demand for the resignation of Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy from the state Cabinet. The government’s next clarification on the scale of additions and removals from the list is expected to determine the immediate direction of the dispute.
