CM moving around with a crowbar in hand, says Ramchander Rao; BJP chief accuses govt. of violating court orders in Khammam demolition drive

Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao accused the Congress government of demolishing houses belonging to poor families across the State by “bypassing legal procedures for the sake of real estate interests”.

During his one-day tour of Khammam district on Sunday, Mr. Rao visited Velugumatla and interacted with displaced families, whose houses had been demolished. He alleged that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was “moving around with a crowbar in hand” and supervising the demolition of homes despite court orders directing the authorities to maintain status quo.

Calling the demolitions ‘inhuman’, he said that nearly 1,800 people from 600 labourer households had been rendered homeless. The houses, constructed with their hard-earned savings near the Collectorate office, were razed in violation of High Court stay orders, which he described as “atrocious and shameful”.

Mr. Rao also alleged that the government harboured malafide intentions, as real estate prices in the area had surged following the establishment of the collectorate office and the proposal of a highway project. He claimed that the poor were being pushed out because the land had become valuable.

He further said that despite multiple status quo orders and explicit court instructions against evictions, revenue officials had issued eviction notices—a “heinous act”, according to him. The former MLC rejected the Government’s claim that the houses were built on the basis of fake documents or illegal allotments, reportedly unearthed during an inquiry by the Bhoodan Board and Revenue Department.

The BJP chief demanded that the government correct its ‘mistake’ by constructing houses for the displaced families at the same site under the Indiramma Housing scheme. He asserted that the party would stand by the oustees against what he termed the “Crowbar Government” until justice was served.

Farmers’ signatures

In a separate development, BJP Deputy Floor leader Payal Shankar announced that the party has decided to take up a mass contact programme with farmers, starting from Adilabad to highlight the demand for taking up the farm insurance programme from March 7 to 15. The objective is to gather 10 lakh signatures and put it before the government during the next Assembly session.

He criticised the Government for failing to implement the Centre’s crop insurance scheme despite promising to do so during the elections. The scheme, he said, had earlier been neglected by the BRS Government as well, he said while addressing a press conference at the State BJP office.

Although the Congress Government had announced ₹3,000 crore for the scheme in its first year, not a single rupee had been released, leaving farmers facing harsh climatic conditions and poor yields without relief. Save for cotton farmers, who are being supported by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), others have been under a lot of distress due to pressure from bankers and lack of support from the government.