BJP finds 50 lakh victims, brings zero records

The Telangana BJP has demanded a judicial inquiry into private land being included in the Section 22-A prohibited-properties list. That demand deserves records, not just a microphone.

At a September 5 protest near Hyderabad’s Indira Park, BJP state president N. Ramchander Rao alleged that commissions for removing land from the list rose from 15% under the previous regime to 30% under the Congress government, and that nearly 50 lakh people were unable to sell land or obtain loans. The report carrying those claims provides no departmental data, transaction sample, court record or methodology for either figure. The Telangana Revenue Department and Chief Minister’s Office have not publicly answered those specific claims in the material reviewed.

The underlying problem is not imaginary. Telangana’s official Bhu Bharati portal acknowledges cases in which a small acquired portion led to an entire survey number being categorised as acquired, blocking transactions or new passbooks, and provides a correction process. The Telangana High Court has also dealt with the legal framework governing prohibited-property lists.

So the BJP has identified a real grievance and attached two unverified numbers to it. The Congress government should publish the list, correction figures and rejected-registration data. Until then, the protest has a case file missing its most important pages.