Kakani, Somireddy trade charges over ₹100 crore land row in Nellore

Former Minister and YSR Congress Party Nellore district president Kakani Govardhan Reddy has accused Sarvepalli MLA Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy of selling 40 acres of government land on Kagithalapur Road near the highway, allegedly worth about ₹100 crore. He further alleged that a few government officials were involved in the irregularities.

Refuting the charges, Mr. Chandramohan Reddy, speaking to the media at his office in Vedayapalem in Nellore on Sunday, said he had in fact proposed that the land parcel in Survey No. 434, which has been under dispute since 1971, be handed over to the Nellore Urban Development Authority. He said officials were unfairly targeted after they issued notices seeking cancellation of what he described as illegal registrations.

No matter how many allegations are made, the lands belong to the government, he said. He recalled that the then Joint Collector had cancelled illegal transactions as early as 2011 and that the then Collector had rejected applications seeking clearance for dotted lands in 2018. After the coalition government assumed office, steps were initiated to utilise the lands for public purposes, he added.

Mr. Chandramohan Reddy said former Collector O. Anand had ordered cancellation of all illegal registrations on the land in August 2025. Tahsildars and Revenue Divisional Officers subsequently initiated steps to transfer the land to the Nellore Urban Development Authority. He added that the present Collector Himanshu Shukla is working to resolve pending legal issues so that an NTR Township can be developed under the authority.

Turning the tables on his political rival, Mr. Chandramohan Reddy alleged that when Mr. Kakani was first elected as an MLA in 2014, he had encroached upon Dalit lands worth about ₹25 crore in his mother in law’s village of Vaviletipadu. He claimed that he had brought the issue to the notice of the Collector, removed the fencing allegedly erected there and facilitated restoration of the land to the beneficiaries. He further alleged that 12 plots belonging to retired employees were also occupied.

He also charged that after Mr. Kakani was re elected in 2019, corruption and irregularities escalated. He alleged that an illegal toll gate was allowed to function and that a container terminal was forced to shut down, resulting in financial gains running into crores. He further claimed that drivers were harassed and threatened by the MLA and his associates.