Naidu government planning to remove Jagan’s pics from land boundary markers stones, passbooks

The N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP alliance came to power after the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and, as promised, repealed the Land Titling Act on 24 July, reported The Indian Express on 3 August.

In addition, the new state government is considering removing former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy’s photographs from the land boundary marker stones, which were fixed during land surveys during the previous tenure.

Also, the new government is considering removing Reddy's photo from lakhs of land ownership passbooks issued under the Land Titling Act.

Chandrababu Naidu, speaking this week in the Assembly, mentioned that his government would reissue the pattadar passbooks with only the official state seal.

“The Jagan government wasted ₹15 crore for printing his photos on the passbooks. The state government, as promised during the electioneering and as per the demand of the people, has decided to issue passbooks with the official seal. Officers have already submitted a copy of the passbook carrying the official seal,” IE quoted CM Naidu as saying.

Meanwhile, the TDP government appears clueless with approximately 77 lakh boundary stones with Jagan’s photo carved on them that revenue officials had planted, added the report.

Following the TDP returned to power, several farmers and landowners ripped out the stones, as over 80 percent of land and property owners were unhappy with the YSRCP surveys and had initiated litigation, said TDP’s Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad.

“We will be holding ‘gram sabhas’ in over 7,000 villages to ascertain if the land had been marked properly or not, and in consultations with the villagers, will conduct a resurvey if necessary and mark the boundaries accordingly,” IE quoted him as saying.

Even the TDP minister also alleged the the former Jagan government spent over ₹600 crore to procure the boundary stones and carve the former CM’s image on them. “Though the Centre has never mentioned the issue of laying stones in the directions for the survey, Jagan prepared granite stones only for carving his pictures,” Satya Prasad said.