This is a commitment from K Chandrashekhar Rao, says KT Rama Rao, warning prospective buyers that any investment in the 400-acre land would be futile
Published Date – 3 April 2025, 06:57 PM
BRS working president KT Rama Rao during a press conference in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao has declared that once his party returns to power, the 400-acre Kancha Gachibowli land will be transformed into the country’s largest eco-park, permanently shielding it from commercial exploitation. Amid the Congress government‘s plans to auction these lands, he warned prospective buyers that any investment in these lands would be futile.
He said that the decision came from BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. “This is a commitment from our leader K Chandrashekhar Rao. This is our promise to the people of Hyderabad and the students of the University of Hyderabad. You will hear only peacocks sing and see trees thrive,” he asserted.
Expressing solidarity with UoH students protesting against alleged illegal encroachment, KTR likened their struggle to Telangana’s student movements. He stated that the BRS kept away from visiting the protesting students to avoid political hue. However, he said time has come for the BRS to get into action.
He warned that if the Congress government does not back down, the BRS will march to the University of Hyderabad along with the people of Hyderabad. “This is not a political fight. This is a fight for future generations,” he declared.
Condemning the unabated destruction of greenery at a press conference here on Thursday, Rama Rao said the Congress government was acting with a “real estate mindset” and auctioning Hyderabad’s green spaces for monetary gains. He also issued a strong warning to real estate firms, urging them not to participate in the auction.
“We will take back every inch and build an extraordinary eco-park, like Central Park in Manhattan. If you invest, you will regret it later. Do not blame us — we are making it clear now,” he said.
Dismissing the Congress government’s claim that the land belongs to it and not the University of Hyderabad (UoH), the BRS working president maintained that the land is Hyderabad’s rightful green space and it belongs to its citizens. “We are not against economic progress, but at what cost? The Chief Minister is acting like a real estate dealer, ignoring public opposition,” he said.
He also reminded that during the BRS regime, the government had withdrawn plans for infrastructure development around KBR Park under the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) after public protests, even after finalising tenders. He reminded that the government was a custodian, not the owner, to act as per its whims. “A democratic government listens to the people. This Congress government, on the other hand, is bulldozing public opinion, literally and figuratively,” he remarked.
Launching a broadside against the A Revanth Reddy government in Telangana, the former Minister said dispensation with democratic values would have approached the students for a peaceful dialogue. “However, the chief minister is calling the students foxes, another Minister is calling them a ‘paid batch’, and the Deputy Chief Minister is discrediting the images of the destruction as AI-generated,” he ridiculed.
The BRS has already taken multiple steps to oppose the Congress government’s actions on various platforms. Rama Rao revealed that his party has raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, arranged a meeting for UoH students with union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and extended legal support to students, environmentalists, and NGOs.
Criticising the Congress government’s handling of student protests, he accused it of using brute force against demonstrators. Referring to Rahul Gandhi, he said the BRS had arranged for him a police escort when the Congress leader visited Hyderabad during the protest over the death of Rohith Vemula. He said Rahul Gandhi lectures about democracy, but his party’s government is lathi-charging students fighting to save Hyderabad’s greener. “This is not Mohabbat ki Dukaan (shop of love.) Telangana has turned into a nafrat ka makaan (house of hate). Rahul Gandhi promised UoH students that he would always stand by them, but where is he now? He has become a ‘Laapata Leader’,” he said.
The BRS leader also slammed the Congress government’s “weekend destruction strategy”, which saw trees being felled over a long weekend when courts were closed. “If this land is truly government property, why did they occupy it overnight? Why were trees razed without waiting for the High Court’s response?” he questioned.
Defending the students of UoH, he emphasised that they have no personal stake in this fight but are standing up for Hyderabad’s future generations. “They love this city more than the Chief Minister does,” he remarked. He suggested that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy who boasts about working 18 hours a day, to think like a human for just 10 minutes with a conscience.
Highlighting BRS’ environmental record, Rama Rao cited achievements such as planting 270 crore saplings and increasing Telangana’s green cover by 7.7 per cent within a decade, as per the Forest Survey of India. “We “turned Hyderabad into a green city, winning national and international awards,” he stated, accusing Congress of endangering Hyderabad’s last major green space.
