BJP seeks probe into ‘fake’ house site pattas issued during YSRCP regime

The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded a comprehensive probe into the alleged large-scale distribution of fake house site pattas to poor families during the 2019 to 2024 tenure of the previous YSR Congress Party government.

On Monday, as part of its grassroots outreach programme Janata Varadhi, BJP leaders submitted petitions to District Collectors across the State, citing what they termed heart- rending complaints from beneficiaries.

BJP State president P. V. N. Madhav, in a statement, alleged that lakhs of economically weaker families were issued land ownership documents without being given physical possession of land. He described the exercise as a massive political fraud aimed at influencing voters ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections.

Mr. Madhav alleged that the previous regime had used the house site distribution programme as an electoral tool in the run up to the elections. He asked that if the pattas were genuine, why many beneficiaries were still living in huts or rented houses despite public distribution ceremonies attended by elected representatives and party leaders.

The previous government had claimed that more than 30 lakh house site pattas were distributed between 2019 and 2024 under its free housing promise. However, the BJP alleged that in several cases beneficiaries neither received physical possession of land nor saw any housing construction take place. Poor families were given papers and promises, but not land or homes. A patta without land is nothing but a cruel deception, Mr. Madhav said.

The party further alleged that several documents were either invalid or linked to land that had not been demarcated. It maintained that the issue went beyond administrative negligence and amounted to a deliberate political strategy to create a perception of welfare delivery. Calling it a serious matter, the BJP sought a special investigation into all pattas issued between 2019 and 2024, identification of cases where land was not actually allotted, and a probe into alleged forged or irregular documentation. It also demanded criminal action against those found responsible, including charges related to electoral malpractice if wrongdoing is established.

This is not just an administrative lapse. It is a human rights issue. Playing with the housing dreams of the poor for political mileage is the gravest betrayal, Mr. Madhav said.

The BJP also referred to housing initiatives spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that substantial Central funds had been allocated to ensure housing for all, and alleging that irregularities in Andhra Pradesh had undermined these efforts.