PNS|Vijayawada
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary V Srinivasa Rao has strongly condemned the demolition of houses belonging to the poor in the Undi Assembly constituency of West Godavari district. He alleged that the evictions were orchestrated at the behest of local MLA and Deputy Speaker R Raghuramakrishnam Raju.
Addressing a press conference at Balotsav Bhavan in Vijayawada on Wednesday, along with party State secretariat member B Balaram and State committee member Dadala Subbarao, Srinivasa Rao accused the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of betraying the poor after promising housing during elections.
He revealed that over 800 families had already been displaced and demolition notices had been served to 600 more homes, invoking a colonial-era law from 1905. “It is unacceptable that a government which is revising laws in all sectors is using outdated British-era legislation to destroy the homes of the poor,” Rao said.
He particularly highlighted the demolition of a colony in Palakoderu named after freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju, calling it a symbolic “murder” of Alluri’s legacy. He also accused local landlords of illegally cultivating 15 acres of land behind the demolished homes, while authorities remained inactive. He demanded that these lands be seized and distributed to the poor.
p1Rao also raised concerns about environmental hypocrisy. “They call the houses of the poor polluting, but ignore the pollution caused by nearby shrimp industries,” he said. He added that coconut trees on canal banks, which the poor tended, were now being exploited by landlords.
