VHP demands Telugu CMs to discuss Bhadrachalam temple land encroachment
Hyderabad: The Telangana unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded that the encroachment of Bhadrachalam Sita Ramachandra Swamy temple’s lands in Purushottapatnam in Andhra Pradesh be made an agenda point for discussion during the meeting of the chief ministers of the two Telugu states scheduled to take place in Hyderabad later this week.
According to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) mouth-piece Organiser, VHP has urged the two chief ministers to form a joint task force team involving the officials from both the states, and a joint action plan, to protect the Bhadrachalam temple lands from encroachment.
On Tuesday, July 8, when Bhadrachalam temple executive officer L Rama Devi was attacked by encroachers, when she went there to reclaim those lands in Purushottapatnam village of Etupaka mandal in Alluri Sitarama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh.
She fell unconscious in the attack, and was rushed to a private hospital in Bhadrachalam for treatment.
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It is pertinent to mention that after the bifurcation of the undivided Andhra Pradesh, seven mandals that were earlier part of the Telangana region, were merged with AP. Purushottapatnam is one of those villages, where 917 acres of the temple’s lands are located, now in AP’s control.
VHP has been alleging that for decades there have been attempts to encroach upon those lands, and when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was the chief minister of AP, encroachers made merry by building not just houses, but also churches and mosques in the temple’s land.
VHP stated that the 917 acres of land for the temple was donated by one Somaraju Purushottama Dasu on October 12, 1878, but only 889.50 acres were showing as the temple’s lands in the revenue records, most of which have been encroached during YSRCP’s regime in AP.
VHP alleged that the followers of YSRCP with support from YS Jagan not only encroached the lands, but also attacked Rama Devi at his behest on Tuesday. VHP also accused former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of turning a blind eye to the issue despite the organisation submitting several representations to the government to protect the temple’s lands.
VHP also alleged that despite the AP High Court’s 2022 order directing the state government to clear the encroachments and protect the temple lands, YS Jagan not only failed to implement the court’s orders, but also encouraged encroachments in Purushottapatnam.
Ironically, VHP raised the point of the temple’s lands falling under the agency area, where 1/70 Act is in force, where no land can be transferred to any non-tribal.
BJP Telangana president N Ramchander Rao also raised the issue during a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday, where he demanded the protection of temple lands from encroachment, and action against the encroachers of Bhadrachalam temple lands in Purushottapatnam.
Telangana endowments minister Konda Surekha has also warned the encroachers after the Tuesday’s attack on her official, that Preventive Detention (PD) Act will be invoked against those who encroach upon the temple lands.
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