PRP stages dharna against auction in vizag

The district rural and urban units of Praja Rajyam Party staged a skit and dharna at the Visakhapatnam Urban Deveopment Authority headquarters here on Wednesday in protest against indiscriminate sale of government lands at the behest of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to raise funds for the exchequer. The PRP leaders took part in a skit to demonstrate how prime lands including hillocks were auctioned at throwaway price to people who matter in the corridors of power. ‘Direct action’ Led by rural and urban district convener and former MLA Ganta Srinviasa Rao, the protesters threatened to resort to `direct action’ if the VUDA did not stop sale of lands and make public the lands sold and layouts approved so far. The party leaders also shouted slogans against land pooling, irregularities committed in Matrusri Cooperative Society layout and the regularisation of a site earmarked for a park to a Congress MLA. Mr. Srinivasa Rao in his address said that the VUDA had deviated from its objective to provide house-sites and houses to the poor and middle class at an affordable cost and accused it of becoming a real estate agency. He said there were a lot of irregularities land pooling at Paradesipalem, regularisation of unauthorised layouts and sale of bulk lands to people connected to the ruling party. He said the VUDA had no right to spoil the natural splendour of the city by auctioning hillocks and demanded details on the extent of land it had acquired from the farmers and sold during the past four and a half years. Among others, former MLA Gannababu, former chairman of the AP Warehousing Corporation Satti Ramarkrishna Reddy, Shirin Rehman, P. Ramana Kumari, Kolla Guruvulu, Villa Srinivasa Rao, Chintalapudi Venkataramaiah, Sandilya and other PRP leaders were present.