Chiru lobbies for office at prime site

The Praja Rajyam chief, Mr K. Chiranjeevi, has stepped up his lobbying with the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, for land in a prime area of the city to construct a party office.

The PR chief wants government land either in Jubilee Hills or Film Nagar where the rates are exorbitantly high. Sources told this newspaper that Mr Chiranjeevi recently wrote a letter to the Chief Minister requesting him to expedite the process of allotment of one acre of land.

Though PR leaders claimed that the request was made to the government when Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was at the helm of affairs, inquiries revealed that the efforts gained momentum only after the change of guard and the close relations between the PR and Congress after the Rajya Sabha polls.

Sources said the government told Mr Chiranjeevi to identify three or four pieces of land, but district revenue officials objected to some of the plots chosen and hence the delay.

“We have not received the proposals from the district collector so far. We will place the proposal before the cabinet after receiving the proposal," a senior Revenue official said.

While the taxpayer may wonder why government land should be allotted for such a purpose, it is apparently a common practice. Successive governments have allotted lands to all the major parties — the BJP, TRS and Congress — to construct party offices.

The BJP and TRS have already built their offices, while the Congress plot at Bhimraowada is under litigation, with the High Court quashing the allotment.