TDP, YSRCP Face-Off Over Spending On Rushikonda Luxury Building

Visakhapatnam: The controversy over the construction of a palatial building atop Rushikonda hill overlooking the Bay of Bengal here has taken a new twist with the TDP and the YSRCP engaging in a spat over the expenditure incurred on constructing it allegedly to house the camp office of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy when he was the Chief Minister during the erstwhile regime.

While the YSRCP claimed that just Rs230 crore was spent on the building to meet the requirement of growing city of Visakhapatnam to host international events and VVIPs like the President of India and the Prime Minister, TDP national general secretary and Minister for IT and Education Nara Lokesh alleged that the construction of the super-structure was to meet the opulent lifestyle of Jagan and his two children with rich interiors, luxury chandeliers and other decoratives at tax-payers' money.

YSRCP stoutly denied the charge stating it as handiwork of vested interests.

Senior YSRCP leader and former Minister Gudivada Amarnath dismissed the allegations on constructions at Rushikonda as "politically-motivated propaganda to defame YSRCP," and said they spent only Rs.230 crore and not Rs.500 crore as the ruling coalition is claiming. He said the buildings occupy only 3 per cent of the 61-acre site with the remaining area earmarked for roads,drainage and extensive greenery. He clarified that it was not a new construction and they had only rebuilt an aging tourism resort after obtaining all the clearances from the authorities concerned. He said the project aligned with the three-capital policy of YSRCP as part of decentralisation.

YSRCP, on its X handle, tweeted a detailed statement saying "the claims by @JaiTDP regarding the #RushikondaProject are incorrect." It said kindly find the facts from the statement shared on X.

The development of Visakhapatnam as the executive capital could not be implemented due to stiff opposition by the farmers who gave lands for constructing Amaravati and court cases filed by them and TDP leaders challenging the decision on bifurcation of the capital.

After the NDA formed the government in June, 2024 there has been speculation on how the building will be used. Of late, there has been talk that the building will be converted into a museum thereby to use the revenue generated through entry fees to take care of maintenance. A key TDP functionary said a huge amount is required to meet the cost for regular maintenance of the huge building put up by demolishing the erstwhile tourism resorts developed by the AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC).

Lokesh recently said besides spending Rs.500 crore on the palatial building assuming that Jagan would be in power for 30 years, the YSRCP, he alleged is also responsible for a penalty of Rs.200 crore, imposed on the government for violating environmental norms by undertaking massive constructions on the hill violating environmental norms violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines.