TRS MP K Keshava Rao's Family In New Land Scam

TRS Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao appears to be in the dock with yet another Miyapur-like land scam surfacing in Ibrahimpatnam of Ranga Reddy district in which his daughter's name figures as a purchasor of government-owned forest land from the associates of the alleged land racketeer Goldstone Prasad.

G Vijayalakshmi, the daughter of Keshava Rao and a GHMC corporator for Banjara Hills, was stated to have purchased nearly 50 acres of land situated in Survey No. 36 in Dandumailaram of Ibrahimpatnam. She purchased the land along with a few others from the associates of Goldstone Prasad, who is now wanted by the police in connection with the multi-crore Miyapur land scam.

The Ibrahimpatnam in-charge Sub-Registrar Saleh Khadeer was stated to have helped Goldstone Prasad and his associates in getting the land registered in the name of Vijayalakshmi and others. The Sub-Registrar has been placed under suspension for registering the forest land that was not denotified by the government.

As the Opposition raised a hue and cry demanding that Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao initiate action against the TRS Rajya Sabha member in connection with the scam, KK asserted that he had purchased the land and registered it in his daughter's name only after verifying all facts and ensuring that the land was not government or forest department land. Claiming that he was neither a cheat nor a land grabber, the senior TRS leader said that as a matter of fact the land registration was done after an order from the High Court when the Sub-Registrar had refused registration.

KK further stated that he had not purchased any disputed land. The required clarifications were sought from the RR District Collector and Revenue Secretary, and only after ascertaining that there was no dispute in the matter was the land registered, he said.

"Just because I am a politician, does it bar me from purchasing any land? I had purchased the land to set up a solar power plant," he explained.

Countering repeated grilling by media persons, the agitated and emotionally surcharged TRS leader challenged that he would move the High Court or Supreme Court if any attempt was made to cancel the registration of the land.

When the media persons tried to seek the reaction of Vijayalakshmi, she bluntly refused to speak on the issue as "my father has already clarified everything and there is nothing more for me to add".

Meanwhile the Ibrahimpatnam Sub-Registrar's officials asserted that the Dundumailaram land was government land belonging to the forest department as per the records. However, a new twist was added to the controversy with the members of the Paigah family claiming that the land in question belonged to them. Goldstone Prasad had taken even a senior and intelligent politician like Keshava Rao for a ride, a Paigah family member quipped, and added that making a purchase based on a court order issued on a compromise decree was invalid and did not old water.

The skeletons suddenly tumbling from the cupboards of the offices of various Sub-Registrars have provided the much-needed ammunition to the Opposition to target the government and pushed the ruling TRS to the wall. The Congress and TDP leaders stepped up their demand for a CBI probe into the land scam and action against some TRS leaders whose role is alleged in all these land dealings. Former Congress Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao did not spare even Governor E S L Narasimhan in the matter, alleging that the Governor was refusing to give appointments to Opposition leaders who wanted to highlight the issue as he was working to the dictates of KCR.