KCR lays foundation of 15-storied BRS office complex at Kokapet
The Bharat Bhavan will function as a comprehensive training facility for party workers, providing access to information from all corners of the country.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) laid the foundation for a massive party office complex at Kokapet on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Monday, aimed at providing research and training facilities for the party functionaries.
Named “Bharat Bhavan,” the 15-storied Centre for Excellence and Human Resource Development will come up in a sprawling 11-acre campus.
On Monday, KCR performed the ground-breaking ceremony marking the commencement of the construction work. He also took part in Bhoo Varaha Homam (vedic ritual) on the campus and planted a sapling to mark the occasion.
The chief minister said that political parties, being democratically elected by the people, provide the “true leadership to govern the state”.
“It is the responsibility of the political parties to groom strong and effective leaders to fulfil the aspirations of the people,” he said.
KCR said Bharat Bhavan would extend political, social, economic, cultural and ideological research and training facilities to the BRS leaders in the state. “There was a need to groom a strong leadership to the country to work in tune with the aspirations of the people,” he said.
“We shall invite experienced people in various fields, political scientists, intellectuals, retired bureaucrats and even Nobel laureates to train and teach the BRS cadres to extend good governance to the people and strengthen the democratic edifice of the country,” he added.
He said the Bharat Bhavan will function as a comprehensive training facility for party workers, providing access to information from all corners of the country.
It will feature spacious meeting halls, a state-of-the-art digital library, multilingual newspapers, news collation services, and the provision of essential information to party leaders. Further, it will serve as a platform for gathering state-wise and sector-wise data, the chief minister said. The establishment of classrooms and conference halls will facilitate the training of party workers from across the nation, he added.
The centre will also provide the necessary accommodation for the trainees to stay. Experienced professionals who have worked in renowned organisations across the country will be appointed to conduct training and research programmes.
Retired officers, legal experts, and individuals knowledgeable in the political field will serve as coordinators, trainers, and subject matter experts.
Senior BRS leaders, including secretary general K Keshava Rao, ministers P Sabitha Indra Reddy, Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Mohd Mahmood Ali and Ch Malla Reddy, Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageswara Rao, and several MPs and MLAs attended the ceremony.
TRS HEADQUARTERS LIKELY TO BE SHIFTED
Meanwhile, a senior BRS leader, on condition of anonymity, said after the completion of the new building in a year or two, the party’s central office is most likely to be shifted there. “If it happens, it is going to be the biggest office of any political party in the country,” he said.
The BRS already has had its party headquarters at Telangana Bhavan at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad for the last 15 years, besides its buildings in all 33 districts. It also established the party’s national office in Delhi and state offices in some states.
Last month, the state cabinet, which met under the leadership of KCR, decided to allot 11 acres of land to the BRS for setting up of Centre for Excellence and Human Resource Development at Kokapet for ₹37.53 crore, approximately at the rate of ₹3.5 crore per acre.
After the cabinet decision, Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy described it as a big scam.
“The present market value of the land at Kokapet is around ₹50-60 crore per acre. When Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) auctioned government lands in Kokapet last year, each acre fetched ₹60 crore in the bidding. That way, the land allotted to the BRS is worth around ₹660 crore,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Bandi Sanjay alleged that the state government had allotted the prime land to the BRS at a throwaway price. “This is nothing but blatant misuse of power,” he said.
He also alleged that the land allotment to the BRS was made within a week of the party applying to the government. “The BRS already has a huge party office in Hyderabad. Where is the need for such a massive building again?” he asked.
Do we have a response to these allegations?