Jagan Mohan Reddy’s Kingly Palace in the age of Democracy

Jaganmohan Reddy’s Palace: Monarchy amid Democracy?

The opulent palace built in the picturesque Rishikonda Hills overlooking the majestic Visakhapatnam seacoast in Andhra Pradesh is back in the news again. The palatial palace spread over 10 acres was built by former CM of Andhra Pradesh YSRCP’s Jagan Mohan Reddy with a reported cost of Rs.500 crores (though the actual cost is expected to be Rs.700 crores), depleting the already bankrupt public exchequer in the divided state of Andhra Pradesh. Built with mindboggling opulence, the luxurious resort home was revealed to the shocked people of the state and the country on 16th June 2024 by former minister and TDP MLA Ghanta Srinivas Rao.

The former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s idea was that after getting reelected to the State Assembly the second time in June 2024, he would shift into this residential palace in Visakhapatnam, as per his three-capital scheme. It is to be noted that Jagan Mohan Reddy prevented the designated new capital region of Amaravathi from becoming the capital of the new state of Andhra Pradesh and floated the three-capital scheme with Amaravati as the legislative capital, Visakhapatnam as the executive capital, and Kurnool as the judiciary capital! Luckily, the AP High Court obstructed his move to shift the capital to Visakhapatnam. The lands in Vizag very highly inflated purposefully, the very little green cover which was remaining in the Rishikonda Hills on the coast was destroyed; there was hue and cry when the green patch was removed and the hills heavily denuded and encroached, yet the YSRCP Govt carried out the plan of constructing the palatial palace in a secretive manner.

At the national level, political parties and media were shocked after it was revealed that former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal built an approximately Rs.50 crore huge mansion, popularly called as Sheesh Mahal, while there was no reportage in media on Jagan Mohan Reddy’s palace, which is about 15 times the cost of Sheesh Mahal. Typically, many Congress party scions suffer from a huge `entitlement mindset’ and believe they are born to live in opulent luxury and have a right to inherit their parents’ political legacy. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is no exception.

Last year the national media reported that Jagan Mohan Reddy palace with a built-up area of 20000 sq.m. has flooring with imported granite, multiple bed rooms, 200 chandeliers, each costing up to Rs.15 lakh, lavish interiors designed at a cost of Rs.33 crores, imported furniture, spa, jacuzzis and spacious washrooms with commodes each costing Rs 15 lakh, landscaping with exotic imported plants and grass, advanced sound system, a humongous home theatre screen, multi-hued illumination, landscaping, illumination, roads and security arrangements, are among some of the features of this mansion. It is to be noted that the new palace was built after demolishing the earlier, most attractive, and highly in-demand luxury tourist resort of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). The original resort had 58 rooms, a conference hall, and a bar-cum-restaurant in a total area of 4,439 square meters.

It is extremely curious as to why the Telugu media didn’t report it as the construction of the palace was going on, its projected costs, and the intended purpose of the building. It is apparent that the media is no longer playing the watchdog role and hasn’t been active in reporting on public administration or public interest issues. There was a report that Janasena’s Pavan Kalyan wished to go and conduct a dharna in Rishikonda, however, the then Govt obstructed Janasena’s plan. After the story was revealed last year, the Telugu print media reported that similar `palaces’ are under construction in 26 other districts. The 26 other `palaces,’ which were reportedly for the use of YSRCP party offices, are under various stages of completion, occupying about 45 acres of land, with a cost of Rs.678 crores.

It is to be noted that the new state of Andhra Pradesh has reached a stage of complete bankruptcy, with YSRCP Jagan Mohan Reddy borrowing heavily from financial institutions as well as the markets. It has been pointed out that by fiscal 2022-23 itself, the YSRC Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh mobilized loans worth Rs.6.38 lakh crores. The TDP, alleging a lack of transparency, quoted the CAG, which said the state Govt had not mentioned the Off Budget Borrowings (OBB) in three successive budgets of 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22. It has also not made public `how much loans it has availed through the various corporations and other institutions’. TDP alleged that Off Budget Borrowings (OBB) and Open Market Borrowings (OMB) were about Rs.8.52 lakh crore in 2023.

It must be borne in mind that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is not a hardworking self-made man, he made his money and properties from the largesse of his father YSR Rajasekhar Reddy Govt from 2004-2009; most of his companies and industries are set up on quid-pro-quo basis; he owns or has major stake in several companies like Bharati Cements, Saraswati Power, Sandur Power, Jagati Publications and Indira TV which own Sakshi newspaper and TV channel. In 2012, the CBI disclosed that Mr YS Jagan Mohan Reddy received Rs.1172 crores as bribes from various investors to get them favors from the YSR Govt, mainly land, mining leases, and licenses for new industries. In the same year, he was arrested when he was a Congress MP from Kadapa. According to CBI, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy amassed huge wealth during 2004-2009, when his father, YS Rajashekhar Reddy, was the chief minister. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s declared assets, which were Rs.1.7 crores in 2004, shot up to Rs 77 crores in 2009 and then to a whopping Rs.356 crores in 2011. CBI named 73 big industrialists and individuals, including bureaucrats, in the charge sheet. In just one instance, CBI stated that Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (APIIC) gave 5,260 hectares in Guntur and Prakasam districts to Nimmagadda Prasad for the Vanpic project by doctoring the terms of the concession agreement. Nimmagadda Prasad had invested Rs.854 crore into the firms owned by Jagan Mohan Reddy through his companies Alpha Villas and Gilchrist Investments. Farmers who lost their land-holdings in Vanpic also protested against the forcible acquisition of lands. Prasad was then arrested by CBI, he later came out on bail. Mr YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also owns several large residential palaces and properties in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Several cases are still pending in courts, with CBI hardly paying attention to these cases since the last ten years. Initially, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy used to mark his attendance in courts too, which for reasons known to CBI, was discontinued later. Hopefully, they will pursue the cases at least now.

In a near-bankrupt state where the State Govt was unable to pay even the contract employees of various Govt projects, this kind of opulence and self- aggrandizement at the expense of the people, on people’s money is against the very principle of democracy and reminds us of how European kings and Indian sultans lived a lavish lifestyle in huge palaces amidst opulence and grandeur. Hopefully, the people of Andhra Pradesh will realize this anti-democratic mindset. It is to be noted that in recent years, Andhra Pradesh also became notorious for a rampant Christian conversion racket, which started around the decade of the 2000s, especially under his father YS Rajashekhar Reddy’s Congress Govt, and has since accelerated multi-fold. Andhra Pradesh has witnessed an alarming demographic change, and this situation needs to be reversed immediately.

It is to be seen how the TDP Mr Chandrababu Naidu’s Govt chooses to utilize Jagan Mohan Reddy’s palace and 26 other buildings which were getting constructed in various districts. The Chandrababu Naidu Govt has to not only revert to the earlier pro-business, pro-industry, pro-investment, pro-growth policies pursued by his own Govt during 2014-19 and which have later collapsed, it also has to fulfill the mandate of the AP Reorganization Act in collaboration with the NDA Govt in Delhi, popularly called the Double-engine sarkar. All the stalled projects including the capital region of Amaravati, Polavaram multi-purpose and other irrigation projects need to be fast-tracked, boost state revenues, develop special economic zones, actively coordinate with the center in achieving the financial package promised to the state in the wake of the division of state in 2014 and many other developmental activities. The Govt also needs to do a balancing act with regard to the freebies promised in their manifestos, restricting the government spending to spreading welfare schemes to genuinely needy people and not omnibus freebie schemes.

There is a genuine concern among Hindu voters whose legitimate needs have been neglected or ignored in the competitive minority-appeasement politics pursued by all political parties in the country. This is a time for a reality check with regard to the unbridled communal politics played to appease the Abrahamic vote banks. It is to be seen how Mr Chandrababu Naidu’s Govt would do the fine balancing act, restrain the `minority’ vote banks, and tackle the genuine needs of the much-neglected Hindu voters.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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