BRS leaders stage protests to demand Land Regularisation Scheme without charges

Hyderabad, March 6 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Wednesday organised protests across Telangana, demanding the Congress government to implement Land Regularisation Scheme (LRS) without charges as promised by the ruling party before the elections.

Alleging that the Congress has gone back on its word, the main opposition party organised protests in front of government offices.

MLAs and senior leaders led the protests at district headquarters demanding the regularisation of plots through LRS without any charges.

BRS leader and former minister led the protest at the office of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) in Ameerpet here.

The protesters were carrying placards and raising slogans against the Congress government. They alleged that the Congress government was looting Rs 20,000 crore from people in the name of LRS.

MLAs M. Gopal and M. Gopinath led the protest in front of the head office of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

The BRS leaders said before elections, the Congress promised LRS for free but after coming to power, it backtracked.

Tension prevailed at GHMC circle office at Kukatpally during the BRS protest. Police refused to allow BRS corporators and other leaders into the office to submit memorandum to officials. A few protesters were injured in the scuffle.

Earlier, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao accused the Congress government of looting Rs 20,000 crore from the people of Telangana through the LRS. He demanded the immediate regularisation of plots through LRS without charging any fees from the applicants.

The former minister recalled that the Congress party, in the past, had promised that there would be no need for LRS fee, and land regularisation would be done for free. KTR questioned the silence of the present Congress ministers now, who had strongly opposed LRS in the past.

KTR claimed that 25.44 lakh people who applied through LRS would be burdened with at least Rs 1 lakh each, as the Congress government appears to be reneging on its promise.

At a press conference last week, KTR played videos of the criticism done by Congress leaders on LRS as a means to loot money from the people.

He accused the state government of pressuring LRS applicants to pay the charges before March 31, likening it to "drinking blood of people", and specifically questioned Bhatti Vikramraka and Uttam Kumar Reddy, who had previously asserted 'no LRS - no BRS,' and demanded an explanation for the apparent contradiction.