Ponguleti Questions KCR's Land Holdings, Cites 2004 'Landless' Affidavit

Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy has raised questions over the expansion of BRS president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's land holdings, pointing to disclosures made in an election affidavit filed more than two decades ago.

In a post on social media, Mr. Ponguleti said Mr. Rao had declared in his nomination papers for the 2004 Karimnagar Lok Sabha election that he owned neither agricultural nor non-agricultural land. The archived affidavit, available on the Association for Democratic Reforms' MyNeta platform, records "Nil" against both categories of land, according to the Minister. It lists a building in Banjara Hills valued at ₹70 lakh as his immovable asset.

Mr. Ponguleti asked how Mr. Rao and his family went on to acquire substantial land and other assets, and sought an explanation from the BRS leadership. He contended that the rise in the family's holdings during the Telangana movement and the ten years of BRS rule that followed warranted public scrutiny.

The Minister also turned to recent remarks by BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, who said the family had owned hundreds of acres since 1954. Mr. Ponguleti asked whether that claim was consistent with the former Chief Minister's own disclosures in his election affidavits.