The picture of the day in Telangana was not just of Congress’s Revanth Reddy taking the chief ministerial oath but the tearing down of heavy barricades around Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence of the state CM built by K Chandrashekar Rao.
This is the same building that the Congress called a symbol of the dictatorial rule of the KCR family, a fortress that kept the common people outside. It has now decided to rename it “Dr BR Ambedkar Praja Bhavan” from Pragathi Bhavan.
Interestingly, in the 2018 assembly polls, the Congress had claimed that if voted to power, it would convert Pragathi Bhavan into a multi-speciality hospital, reminiscent of a similar decision taken by former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. In 2011, when she was elected to power, one of the first decisions Jayalalithaa made was to continue work from the old secretariat building at Fort St George in Chennai and convert the swanky Rs 1,200 crore secretariat into a multi-super-speciality hospital and a new medical college. She refused to operate from the new premises initiated by the previous DMK regime, claiming it was far from complete and lacked adequate administrative facilities.
So, will Revanth Reddy operate from the same premises that his predecessor KCR did? Several Congress leaders that News18 spoke to confirmed that the party did not believe in wasting resources or taxpayers’ money.
“The government will operate from the new secretariat as the old one was already brought down and a new one has been built. The major difference will be that the doors to the secretariat and the chief minister’s office will be open to the people of the state 24×7. No one will be denied entry, and every grievance or suggestion will be heard. The people have elected with a sense of trust, and we hope to keep that intact,” said a senior Congress leader from Hyderabad city.
Another leader who also did not want to be named stated, “The best reason behind bringing down those barricades at Pragathi Bhavan symbolises how we will function as a government — with transparency and taking people with us.”
Like Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo K Karunanidhi’s move to shift his government’s daily operations to the multi-crore new secretariat in the Omandurar Government Estate in Chennai’s Anna Salai in 2010, KCR also assumed office at his Rs 616 crore Vastu-compliant premises.
He named the new secretariat after the father of the Indian constitution, BR Ambedkar, and it was erected on the site where the old building was demolished in July 2020.
Having refrained from working in the old secretariat building since the formation of the state in 2014, citing its alleged association with bad luck for chief ministers and non-compliance with Vastu principles, KCR had occupied his chamber in the new “visitor-friendly” secretariat complex equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for the first time.
Known for a deep belief in “auspicious timings” and Vastu principles, KCR selected the period between 1.20 pm and 1.40 pm on a Sunday on April 28 this year to enter his chamber in the secretariat. The inauguration involved day-long rituals and yagnas, with priests chanting mantras from Vedic texts.
Coming back to the controversial Pragathi Bhavan, Revanth Reddy, who is also the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) head, even stoked controversy with his remarks during the Haath Se Haath Jodo Yatra in Mulugu disytrict, where he said that the poor of the state will have nothing to lose even if Naxalites blast the building.
“What if Naxalites blast the Pragathi Bhavan (Telangana CM’s residence) using a bomb, there will be nothing to lose there as the real people of Telangana have no relation to that Bhavan. Just like Naxalites had set blasts in the forts earlier, what if they blast Pragathi Bhavan with dynamite as well? Isn’t Pragathi Bhavan like a fort where there is no entry for the poor?” said Reddy in one of the many controversial statements he made that got people to sit up and watch him as he led the Congress party to victory in India’s youngest state.
Located in Begumpet, Pragathi Bhavan, the official residence until now of the CM of the state was built at a cost of Rs 49,84,14,145, as revealed in an RTI filed by Robin Zacheus, a Hyderabad-based activist. It was also said that Pragathi Bhavan was built after demolishing quarters in a government colony allotted to 10 IAS officers and 24 peons.
Pragathi Bhavan, designed by renowned Mumbai-based architect Hafiz Contractor and built by the company Shapoorji Pallonji in 2016, is an expansive complex consisting of five buildings spread across 9 acres, encompassing a total built-up area of 1 lakh square feet. The structures are furnished with state-of-the-art amenities, including bulletproof washrooms.
It is also interesting to note that it was this very ‘secretariat’ that in May 2023, Revanth Reddy, who was then an MP, was stopped from entering by the city police as they claimed that he had not taken adequate permission to meet the officials. Reddy reportedly was to meet and express his opposition to special chief secretary of municipal administration Arvind Kumar on leasing out the project of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to a private company.
Political analyst Gali Nagaraja points out that Revanth Reddy had mentioned that Pragathi Bhavan would be converted into Chakali Ilamma or Chithyala Ilamma Women Empowerment Bhavan in honour of the Telangana revolutionary who rebelled against the feudal lords in the region.
“Pragathi Bhavan under KCR became inaccessible even to the BRS supremo’s ministers and MLAs. Revanth Reddy had said that he does not want to live in a palace like his predecessor KCR and he also wanted to prove a point by dedicating Pragathi Bhavan to the fight for Telangana,” Nagaraja said.
There is no confirmation yet whether a new residence for Congress CM Revanth Reddy will be built or whether he will accommodate himself in the already existing setup.
Chennai-based political analyst Bhagwan Singh makes a point that political leaders should not waste taxpayers’ money on petty vendetta politics.
“Let’s not blame the politicians alone, but you and I should also be blamed. Our silence and indifference to such events, and our attitude that this does not concern us, is the biggest fault. Do we question whose money is being used to build such buildings? It is taxpayers’ money, yet we do not question it,” he told News18.
Senior journalist Singh, who had covered the inauguration of Tamil Nadu’s then-new secretariat before it was turned into a hospital, felt that such a trend should stop. He believes that Revanth can send a message by not repeating what other politicians have done and setting an example.
“I hope Mr Reddy would become more accommodative, kinder and set an example for others to follow on not indulging in such vindictive politics,” Singh stressed. “The secretariat is a public building that is sanctioned by the legislature under the state budget, audited by the comptroller and auditor general, and the government has been elected by the people. So a decision not to enter based on a leader’s personal vendetta or dislike is preposterous. Somebody should go to the courts and ask questions as it is people’s money that is being played with.”
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