A political dispute over Telangana bullet train land acquisition intensified on Tuesday after BRS leaders accused the state government of taking or marking farmers’ land even though the project’s alignment has not been finalised.
Speaking at a press conference at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad, BRS Legislature Party deputy leader P Sabitha Indra Reddy demanded an explanation from Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy over alleged boundary marking in Bahaduruguda. She asked why farmers’ land was allegedly taken under police protection when the location of the proposed project remained undecided.
Indra Reddy referred to an earlier clarification by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw that the bullet train alignment was yet to be finalised and that the Centre had not asked the Telangana government to acquire land for the project. The BRS leader alleged that thousands of acres were being acquired across undivided Rangareddy district without a clear explanation of their proposed use.
The allegations place the proposed high-speed rail project within a wider dispute over land administration in southern Telangana. Indra Reddy also questioned the need for a new road between Kotwalguda and Kodangal, saying an existing road already connected Shamshabad. She alleged that farmers were being pressured to surrender land for a greenfield highway and claimed that government land in Nadergul had been fenced after being described as private property.
The BRS leaders linked the issue to other land-related decisions in the region. Former MLA Manchireddy Kishan Reddy alleged that the Congress government had cancelled a proposed 14,000-acre Pharma City project and issued a notification to acquire another 2,500 acres nearby without public consultation. He also alleged that government land in Ibrahimpatnam constituency had been mortgaged and that fresh acquisition had been undertaken in two villages for the proposed bullet train project.
The claims made at the press conference were not accompanied in the supplied report by acquisition notifications, alignment maps or responses from the Telangana government, the Union railway ministry or the ministers named by the BRS leaders. The reported dispute therefore turns on a central administrative question: whether land-related action is being taken for a formally approved project or for preliminary planning activity before the project’s route has been settled.
Former MLA Patnam Narender Reddy accused the Chief Minister of pursuing land acquisition to benefit real estate interests. He also alleged that a farmer in Kodangal was denied electricity after refusing to part with land. The report did not provide an official response to that allegation.
BRS MLC Surabhi Vani Devi separately criticised land acquisition without prior information and referred to the removal of a statue of her father and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao near KBR Park. The reported statements broadened the political criticism beyond the bullet train proposal to include alleged failures in consultation, land classification and communication with affected residents.
The immediate issue for affected communities is whether any survey, boundary marking, fencing or acquisition activity is backed by a published notification and a clearly identified public project. The next relevant developments will be an official response from the Telangana government or railway authorities, along with documentary clarification on the bullet train alignment and the legal status of the land actions cited by the BRS.
