BRS Legislature Party deputy leader T Harish Rao has challenged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to order an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the Section 22A prohibited-properties dispute and alleged irregularities linked to Dharani and Bhu Bharati. Rao issued the challenge after Revanth's Assembly speech on Wednesday, saying the BRS was ready for scrutiny of decisions taken during its tenure and that the Congress government's decisions should face the same examination.
Rao also demanded a white paper detailing properties added to and removed from the Section 22A list. He said BRS leaders had disclosed their assets through election affidavits and rejected Revanth's allegations against former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and other party leaders. Rao also raised allegations about land transactions under Bhu Bharati and sought an independent inquiry into those matters.
Revanth sets out government's position on Section 22A During the Assembly debate, Revanth rejected the BRS assertion that about one crore acres were caught in the Section 22A controversy. He said the prohibited list includes forest, endowment, Wakf, Bhoodan and other protected categories, while putting the land under dispute between the government and private individuals at 3,73,930 acres. He said officials had also included entire survey numbers in the prohibited list in some cases even when the government owned only part of the land.
Revanth also announced a 12-point plan to address land-related problems arising from Section 22A. The measures cover pending registrations, layouts, assigned lands, regularisation and properties affected by government schemes, with different mechanisms proposed for different categories of disputes. BRS presses for judge-led inquiry Rao's latest challenge continues the BRS push for judicial scrutiny of the prohibited-land issue.
On September 12, he sought a judicial inquiry into Section 22A and demanded the resignation of Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy while raising allegations about the preparation and correction of prohibited-property lists. The two sides differ over how the wider land dispute should be examined. The Revanth government has announced administrative measures and committees to address Section 22A problems, while Rao is pressing for a sitting judge-led inquiry covering the prohibited-properties issue and alleged irregularities under Dharani and Bhu Bharati.