Telangana CM invokes Lord Krishna to defend demolition of actor Nagarjuna’s building

Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on Sunday drew upon the teachings of Lord Krishna as he defended the demolition of a convention centre co-owned by Telugu superstar Nagarjuna. Reddy said his government would not spare those who encroached upon lakes and crack down on such activities even if they are influential in society.

Speaking at an event organised by the Hare Krishna Movement, Reddy said he would follow the preaching of Lord Krishna which proclaims that for the good of the people, one should follow Dharma in order to defeat Adharma through a fight.

On Saturday, officials from the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), alongside the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and other departments, executed the demolition of N-Convention, located in Madhapur. The convention centre was found to be built on the Full Tank Level (FTL) and buffer zones of the Tammidikunta lake, according to a government release.

The authorities said the structure had no building permission and was therefore deemed illegal.

Despite the Telangana High Court granting an interim stay on the demolition later that day, the authorities proceeded with the demolition in the morning, asserting that they had followed due process.

"The sole objective is to liberate these lakes from the encroachers. We will crush encroachments with an iron hand. Though there are pressures, we will not go back and we will remove those encroachments,” the CM asserted.

He cited the historical importance of Hyderabad’s chain of lakes, originally designed by the Nizam administration in response to a catastrophic flood in 1908 with the assistance of engineer Mokshagundam Vishvesvaraya. The CM vowed to continue his mission to protect these vital water bodies from further encroachment.

What Nagarjuna said on demolition

Nagarjuna, expressing his dismay on social media platform 'X', insisted that the demolition was carried out wrongfully based on misinformation. He maintained that the land on which N-Convention stood was "Patta land" and that no encroachment had occurred on the tank's plan.

Nagarjuna said he is pained by the "unlawful" manner of demolition carried out in respect of N-Convention, contrary to existing stay orders and court cases.

"I thought it fit to issue this statement to place on record certain facts for protecting my reputation and to indicate that we have not done any actions in violation of law. The land is a Patta land, and not even an inch of tank plan is encroached," he said.

The actor said no notice was issued prior to carrying out the demolition. In respect of the building constructed inside the private land, there is a stay order granted against any earlier illegal notice for demolition, he added.

"As a law-abiding citizen, if the court before which the matter is pending had decided against me, I would have carried out the demolition myself. I am placing this on record for the purpose of correcting any public misimpression about wrongful constructions or encroachment by us," he asserted.

With inputs from agencies