CM terms Rushikonda palace’s opulence as ‘mind-boggling’

Visakhapatnam : Even as Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu roamed various countries across the world, the Rushikonda palace built by the Jagan government in Visakhapatnam shocked him beyond his imagination.

After going through each block and facilities of the palace, the Chief Minister termed the opulence as ‘mind-boggling’.

Apart from getting shocked, Naidu opined that those who view the palace will feel a mix of anger, excitement, sadness and awe.

As part of his North Andhra tour, the Chief Minister paid a sudden visit to Rushikonda project even though it was not part of his schedule.

With the Rs.500 crore-project lying idle at the hills, Naidu decided to visit the palace to take a call on how to put it into a viable use. However, after going through the palace, even the CM could not make out how it could be converted into a purposeful endeavour despite possessing effective administrative experience.

Even as he wanted to examine a few blocks, the CM could not help but visit each block and facility at the premises. Later, speaking to the media, Naidu said, “Every minute detail of Rushikonda palace will be placed in the public domain and opinions will be collected from all before arriving at a logical conclusion of converting the premises into a revenue-generating project. However, it is certain that the YSRCP government committed mistakes by violating environmental norms to great lengths and misusing public money. “No political leader or a person would have dared to make such a bold decision the way Jagan did to spend a lavish life. Money was spent liberally, including Rs.36 lakh for a bathtub and Rs.12 lakh for a commode at the palace. No wonder, the opulent bungalow was built using public funds.”

Expressing ire over Jagan’s selfish motives, the Chief Minister underlined the need to expose the former CM’s attitude and involve people in a debate over how to use the palace for a meaningful purpose.

Even for the tourism purpose or transforming it on the similar lines of Falaknuma Palace, the premises at Rushikonda is a pricey affair, the CM observed. “Not even in my wildest dreams, I had imagined that political leaders could indulge in such lavishness. The deeper you dig the YSRCP's closet, the more skeletons are coming out of it. That’s why a debate needs to be initiated wherein the public should think whether they require a political leader like Jagan in future,” the Chief Minister stressed, referring to the former CM as 'Andhra Escobar’.

Responding to a query, the Chief Minister stated that the YSRCP government cheated the Central government agencies, NGT and courts by submitting false reports. “But the alliance government will not deny its mistakes as it will work to undo them,” the CM assured.

It is difficult to make out what Jagan had thought about himself while building the palace as even kings would have not thought about spending so much for the opulence the way the former CM did despite the fact that power is elusive, the CM pointed out.

Soon, a video will be released covering every detail of the palace and shared in the public domain, the CM informed.