Dharmana charged in Vanpic port case

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Roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao was on Monday named as an accused in the Vanpic case in the fourth chargesheet filed by the CBI in the Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy investments case. The bureau named Mr Prasada Rao, who was revenue minister at that time, the fifth accused. The fourth chargesheet pertains to Vanpic Projects Private Limited of industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad who allegedly invested in Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s companies as a quid pro quo arrangement for land allotted to the port project by the then YSR government.

The CBI alleged that Vanpic got huge concessions from the revenue department in the form of GOs when Mr Prasada Rao was the minister. The revenue department allegedly facilitated Mr Prasada Rao to illegally acquire lands in favour of Vanpic under the guise of development of the backward region. Mr Prasad Rao had been questioned by the CBI twice earlier.

The CBI has so far named 14 individuals / entities as accused in the case. Apart from Mr Prasada Rao, they include Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, auditor Vijay Sai Reddy, Vanpic’s Nimma-gadda Prasad and former minister Mopidevi Venkataramana. Also named in the chargesheet are bureaucrats K.V. Brahmananda Reddy, Dr Manmohan Singh (principal secretary, animal husbandry), M. Samuel (chief commissioner, land administration).

The CBI named Mr Nimmagadda Prakash (Mr Prasad’s younger brother), and the entities Vanpic Projects, Jagati Publications, Raghuram Cement Corporation, Bharathi Cements, Carmel Asia Holdings and Silicon Builders in the fourth chargesheet. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, Mr Prasad, Mr Venkataramana and Mr. Brahmananda Reddy are in judicial custody while Mr Vijay Sai Reddy is out on bail. Bureaucrats M. Samuel and Dr Manmohan Singh, who were then secretaries in the revenue and industries departments respectively, were also named in the chargesheet.

Dharmana to meet CM today
Roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao is likely to resign after being named as an accused in the CBI's fourth chargesheet in the Jagan illegal investments case. The minister, who is currently in New Delhi, has sought an appointment with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy for Tuesday evening. If Mr Rao resigns, some of his colleagues will face an embarrassing situation, the first being secondary education minister K. Parthasaradhi who continues in his job even after being convicted in a financial fraud case.

The resignation will also set a precedent for ministers who might be subsequently chargesheeted by the CBI. Mr Rao refused to comment till he read the chargesheet. He, however, said he would abide by the Congress' principles. Hailing from the strong BC Velama community in the north coastal districts, he was instrumental in the Congress winning a majority of the seats in his native district of Srikakulam, a strong anti-Congress bastion since Independence. Under his stewardship, the party had won nine out of 12 seats in 2004 in the district. The ruling party has always depended on Mr Rao to lead the attack on the Opposition on crucial matters.