Thanks to the separate Telangana movement, TNGOs leader and Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee president Swamy Goud has emerged as a power unto himself. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of KCR, Swamy Goud has grown from being a mere NGO leader to a politician in the making. The TRS chief himself announced several times that Swamy Goud would be in the electoral fray at the right time.
It is in this backdrop that the state government did not dare touch the TNGO leader despite a slew of allegations of corruption and misappropriation against him. A section of TNGOs had charged that Swamy Goud flouted all norms and gave away plots to people of his choice as President of TNGOs housing society.
The land was given to the society at Gopannapalli near Gachibowli in 2006 by the then government. According to the aggrieved group within the society, as many as 200 plots were illegally allotted to those who did not qualify out of the total of nearly 2,000 plots.
An inquiry by an official of the Cooperative Department has now established that norms were indeed flouted in the allocation of 240 plots. The inquiry report prepared by the inquiry officer Dr Kiranmaye on the direction of the AP High Court revealed that large scale violations were committed in the allotment of plots. Membership records were not maintained and many benami allotments were found. As much as Rs 30 crore was supposed to have been spent on development works, which did not reflect on the ground.
Venkatesam, one of the members of TNGO association, alleged that Swamy Goud made Rs 200 crore by embezzling the society funds. Though many members of the TNGO association had been calling his bluff, Goud was taking the cover of Telangana to protect himself from government action, he said. In the light of the report, Swamy Goud should be immediately suspended from his position, he demanded.
Those supporting Swamy Goud also held a press conference, and defended the society president, questioning the manner in which the inquiry report was made public.
