KTR questions BJP's 'silence' over encroachment of Bhadrachalam temple land

Hyderabad, July 11 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao has questioned the alleged silence of BJP over encroachment of land belonging to Seetha Ramachandra Swamy temple of Telangana's Bhadrachalam.

The BRS leader took to the social media platform 'X' on Friday to question the BJP's "silence" on the encroachment of 889.5 acres land of the temple in Andhra Pradesh.

He asked Telangana BJP president Ramachandra Rao, "Why Bhadrachalam land is not sacrosanct for his party".

"BJP President Ramachandra Rao has no time for our Telangana's Bhadrachala Ramachandra Prabhu? Why isn't Bhadrachalam land sacrosanct enough for the BJP to protect? 889.5 acres of our Bhadrachalam temple land have been grabbed in Andhra Pradesh, and not a word from the BJP?!! Is it because you have to protect the interests of your political alliance in Andhra Pradesh?" asked KTR.

"Please raise your voice despite your political affiliations, and let us fight to bring back our Bhadrachalam land that is grabbed by encroachers despite the High Court's orders," added the BRS leader.

Temple's Executive Officer L. Rama Devi was attacked by villagers in Purushothapatnam village in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday when she had gone there to stop constructions on the encroached temple land. She fainted and had to be admitted to a hospital in Bhadrachalam.

The famous Ram temple at Bhadrachalam in Telangana's Bhadradri Kothagudem district holds about 890 acres in Purushothapatnam, a village transferred to Andhra Pradesh after the state bifurcation in 2014.

Encroachments on the land are continuing despite the Andhra Pradesh High Court directing that the land should be restored to the temple.

Rama Devi on Tuesday visited the village, which is now part of Etapaka 'Mandal' (revenue block) of Alluri Sitharamaraju district of Andhra Pradesh, to inspect the violations and stop constructions, but the land grabbers confronted and assaulted her and the temple staff accompanying her.

--IANS

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