Harish Rao to Congress: clear 22A or move

BRS deputy floor leader T. Harish Rao on Sunday warned that his party will stall the upcoming Assembly sitting and protest at the Secretariat unless genuine private properties are removed from Telangana’s Section 22A prohibited-properties list. “If necessary, we will lay siege to the Secretariat. The BRS is ready for any form of struggle,” he said at a meeting with residents of Boduppal colonies, according to a published report.

The fight is over how expansively the Congress government in Telangana is applying 22A of the Registration Act — the clause states can use to bar registration of properties restricted by law or notification. The state’s own Bhu Bharati portal confirms a prohibited-lands search exists and lists a grievance module for wrong inclusion, but it does not, in the material publicly accessible here, publish a statewide acreage total or a district-wise breakdown.

Harish Rao has alleged the sweep runs into tens of lakhs of acres and includes patta lands and registered houses; those numbers and specific inclusions remain his claim. A report last week also noted his call for a retired High Court judge-led commission to audit every survey number added or deleted since December 2023 — again his demand, not a notified inquiry.

What would settle this is basic disclosure: the complete current 22A list, the legal orders placing each survey number under prohibition, and how many grievances have been received and resolved. None of that was available in the sources reviewed, and the Assembly website lists the House as not in session; a September sitting has been spoken of in public, but no formal calendar was located.

The Congress government has not bothered to explain the basis, the totals or the fixes it has in mind. If it wants a quiet House, publishing the list would be faster than daring the Opposition to show up.