Going by the beliefs of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), the Telangana government has started to demolish the state’s Secretariat building in Hyderabad as it was felt that the old building was not built as per ‘Vastu’ rules. KCR himself didn’t visit the old complex and had been running his office from Pragathi Bhavan.
The High Court of Telangana stayed the demolition for almost a year but recently it gave a go-ahead to the government, saying that it cannot interfere in the latter’s policy decisions. The demolition would be completed in two days and the government is determined to build a new Secretariat within a year. The design of the new Secretariat has already been released.
Meanwhile, some Opposition leaders tried to protest against the demolition but the police erected barricades up to a km to stop them. A large number of BJP and Congress leaders were put to house arrest. Many are planning to approach the Supreme Court as well.
Krishna Sagar Rao, chief spokesperson of the BJP’s state unit, said, “The TRS government is demolishing the old Secretariat buildings for false prestige of KCR in the midst of a global pandemic crisis. While chief ministers across the country are busy building infrastructure to accommodate coronavirus patients, the Telangana CM is busy demolishing the existing infrastructure, which can easily be turned into a Covid-19 hospital or isolation ward.”
Earlier, KCR actually planned to build a big secretariat complex in Bison Polo Grounds which belongs to the Ministry of Defence. But, the Union government didn’t hand over the land to the state government. While slamming the government for this move, Congress leader Guduru Narayana Reddy told The Daily Guardian that it was an idiotic decision. “The CM should not go as per his whims and fancies. He is not a king. He should come out from underground and behave like a public representative. What is the hurry of demolition of a Secretariat which is in good condition? No state in the world constructs any property which has no commercial value in the last six years. He could have used the secretariat for Covid-19 patients. It’s a 3-lakh sq. ft. palatial building.”
The TRS government, however, said that some blocks of the secretariat were in dilapidated condition, did not comply with the fire safety measures and it was not possible to modify it in the present form. Government spokesperson Krishank said, “After the High Court dismissed all the petitions filed against it, the government started demolition work. The BJP is politicising the issue. The Government of India is planning to construct Parliament with Rs 20,000 crore. It is the vision of the PM. Despite the economic slowdown, the government of Telangana too would like to build an Assembly and will simultaneously fight Covid-19 in the state.”