Hyderabad: What was once meant to be among the most opulent structures in the state of Andhra Pradesh—as Jagan Mohan Reddy’s official residence if he had continued as chief minister, or as an ultra-luxurious sea-facing resort in the scenic city of Visakhapatnam—today remains unused and in neglect.
Over a year since the transition of political power in the state, the Rs 450 crore white palatial mansion in Rushikonda is turning out to be a white elephant for the Chandrababu Naidu-led government under the National Democratic Alliance.
Telugu Desam Party’s NDA ally and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan visited the complex at the famous tourist spot Friday.
After a thorough inspection, along with JanaSena Party ministers and legislators, Kalyan expressed dismay over the use of public money for “pure lavishness” in the exteriors and interiors of the structure by the previous government for Jagan’s use, and the steep costs involved now for the upkeep of the vacant edifice.
“The Haritha tourist resort earlier on the same spot was generating Rs 7 crore annually. While razing such a revenue avenue, the YSRCP government built a palace which has become a millstone around the government’s neck,” Kalyan told media persons.
“The maintenance of these dormant buildings is costing Rs 1.5 crore a year, including power consumption,” he said in presence of JSP leader and state Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh.
It was the Andhra Pradesh tourism department, which had, under the Jagan government, executed the project, allegedly in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone clearances, and other environmental norms. Almost half of the scenic Rushikonda hill was then excavated for the purpose to the horror of local residents and environmentalists.
The complex was built and readied for the Yuvajan Sramika Rythu Congress Party chief to move in with his family, if he had retained power in June 2024, with him planning to shift the state executive seat from Amaravati to Visakhapatnam.
In June last year, Nara Lokesh, TDP general secretary and state cabinet minister, had said that an inquiry would be constituted to probe “Jagan’s exploits”, and that the structures would be “devoted to the people of Andhra Pradesh”. But the TDP government has so far failed to come up with an idea to best utilise or repurpose the buildings lying in neglect.
Kalyan, camping in Vizag for a three-day JSP brainstorming session, visited the complex, and pointed to the false ceilings coming apart in some places, dust accumulating on windows, and so on.
“These lavish structures, with extravagant furniture, automatic door curtains, over the top bathtubs etc., were built by the previous government to be used as the CM’s residence. But lack of proper maintenance is resulting in some parts crumbling already, water seepages. We will take a decision on how to properly utilise the complex in the coming assembly session,” said Kalyan, as he discussed costs and other matters with accompanying officials, who informed him that the cases against excavation of the hill, and other violations and ecological damage in the area are pending in the National Green Tribunal and the courts.
One suggestion by JSP is to repurpose the buildings to be used as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) centre, as Visakhapatnam is among the most industrialised cities, and the IT and pharma hub of the state. It could be also used for destination weddings and other events.
At its meeting later, the JSP legislature party passed a resolution to best utilise the location for business, tourism development and revenue generation purposes, while condemning the taxpayer money splurge on “Rushikonda palace” by the YSRCP administration.
Later in the day, the Naidu government also issued a government order constituting a Group of Ministers “to study and recommend the way forward for proper utilisation of the idle Resort at Rushikonda”.
The three-member committee includes Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav, Social Welfare Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy, and Tourism Minister Durgesh. Special Chief Secretary of Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department will be the Convenor. However, there is no fixed time limit for the committee to submit its recommendations.
Meanwhile, the YSRCP reacted to Kalyan’s tour of Rushikonda resort, alleging that the NDA coalition leaders have made it a tourist spot, and a “punching bag” to target their leadership.
“The opposition keeps on referring to the structures as ‘Rushikonda Palace of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’, then why the GO appointing a GoM refers to it as ‘Rushikonda Resort’. The official position calls their bluff,” Former minister Gudivada Amarnath told mediapersons Saturday.
The YSRCP leader suspected that the broken pieces of false ceiling could be a dirty trick by the ruling alliance to present the building construction in poor light.
Also Read: How ‘troublemaker’ TDP MLAs are irking Naidu, giving YSRCP ammo to target ruling NDA
The Rushikonda project
In 2021, when then CM Jagan made his resolve clear to shift the state’s capital to Visakhapatnam despite the pending legal cases and logistical challenges, his administration moved swiftly with a plan, under the aegis of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, to construct “a luxurious retreat” at Rushikonda.
The design was spread over seven blocks, with a total built-up area of 19,968 square metres on land measuring 9.88 acres of the total project site of 61 acres. For this, the state-run Haritha Resort, which was popular and in perfect shape, was demolished within days.
The blocks were named Vijayanagara, Vengi, Kalinga and Gajapathi, after some of the greatest empires in the region in ancient and medieval India.
Since the site, abutting the Bay of Bengal shore, falls under CRZ-II zone, the APTDC approached the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which accorded clearances in May 2021. Subsequently, in 2022, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation also approved the plan. The fire department’s No Objection Certificate came in 2023.
The work on infrastructure—water, roads, power, landscaping, interiors, furnishings— was carried out over the last three years of Jagan’s term, with “total cost of the Redevelopment of the Resort at Rushikonda worked out to Rs. 451.67 crore”, revealed a government note on the project, accessed by ThePrint.
For this purpose, the Jagan administration had engaged private construction, design and architecture firms, some of which were allegedly owned by persons close to the YSRCP.
Tourist resort or CM’s camp office?
In November 2023, following Jagan’s announcement that the Chief Minister’s Office would operate from Vizag the next month onwards, after a few such unmet deadlines, a YSRCP government-constituted committee identified the resort at Rushikonda as fit for transit accommodation and camp office of the chief minister.
“Further, the government accepted the committee recommendations and ordered that the Tourism Resort of 1,46,784 sq ft, at Rushikonda shall henceforth be the Chief Minister’s Camp Office-cum-Residence at Visakhapatnam,” read the note accessed by ThePrint.
Jagan’s administration, in December 2023, also asked the tourism department to make required internal changes, and provide suitable furniture and other facilities fit to be used as transit accommodation and camp office for the chief minister, with APTDC “executing the work of the resort with the budget sanctioned by the government”.
However, when the Rushikonda complex was rather quietly inaugurated by then tourism minister R.K. Roja in February last year, just two weeks ahead of the election code kicking in, it was still stated as a new resort.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)