Ever since the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh completed the construction of a magnificent bungalow complex on the picturesque beach-front Rushikonda hills in Visakhapatnam, the Telugu Desam Party leaders have been raising a hue and cry.
The Jagan government had constructed the palatial bungalow complex, with a confidence that he would come back to power, so that he would stay there and operate his camp office from there.
Maybe, he thought he would rule the state for another 10 years; so, he needed a bungalow that befits his stature.
Though the officials tried to project it as a luxurious tourist resort, it was obvious that the palace was meant for the camp office and residence of Jagan. So, for security reasons, nobody was allowed to go near the bungalow when he was in power.
Now that the TDP has come to power, it has started making a big fuss about the Rushikonda palace.
They are trying to project as if the former chief minister had wasted around Rs 500 crore public money, though they are aware that there is no way Jagan can come and stay there now.
So, the YSRCP social media workers have launched a counter-attack on the TDP leaders and the pro-TDP media for making the Rushikonda palace issue a controversy, even after Chandrababu Naidu came to power.
They are asking whether Jagan had made any statement saying he had built the palace for himself, irrespective of whether he would be there in power or not.
“Why are they still calling it a Jagan palace? Does the government want to hand over the palace to Jagan?” they asked.
The YSRC activists are saying since they were built by the government, the present government could as well use them for its purposes.
“Why are they creating a controversy about it? If you don’t like it, you can demolish the same, cover it with soil dug up from there and restore the Rushikonda hill,” they said.
The party people said the Rushikonda palace is the creation of Jagan and stand as an example for his visualisation how building in a capital city should be.
“He has not created any graphics as was done by Naidu in Amaravati,” they argued.