YSRCP reduced Bhogapuram site to 2,300 acre unlike Naidu

Vijayawada: Hitting out at TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu for alleging double-speak on the part of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on the Bhogapuram International Airport, Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana on Thursday admitted that the YSRCP leader had opposed the proposed airport at Bhogapuram due to a move to acquire 12,000 acres.

“In response to the public pulse, our leader had promised to give back the pattas if the TDP went ahead with land acquisition against the wishes of the farmers as the then Leader of Opposition in the Assembly in 2019,” the Minister clarified at a press conference held at Tadepalli.

Botcha said after forming the government, Jagan Mohan Reddy renegotiated with the GMR Group and reduced the project site to 2,300 acres. He said the first flight from the airport will most likely fly by the end of 2025. He said the Chief Minister urged GMR Group Chairman Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao to complete the project six months ahead of schedule.

The Minister alleged that the TDP leaders and the media close to it were unnecessarily trying to play up the Chief Minister’s utterances when he was the Leader of Opposition due to political jealousy.