Believe it or not, it took 55 years of struggle and industry for India’s premiere industrial family Ambanis to build the 27-storied house Antillia in Mumbai. The house, constructed in an area of 4532 square meters, has a parking facility for 168 cars and is equipped with 9 lifts, 1 helipad and air traffic control facility, a mini theatre with a capacity of 50 persons, swimming pools and hanging gardens.

YSR Congress party chief and Kadapa MP Mr YS Jaganmohan reddy, however, took only five years to come up with such an equally powerful house in an area of 5807 square meters in the Lotus Pond area of the Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

The Jagan palace, limited to four floors, would have had more number of floors than that of the Ambani family but the civic permissions halted it at the 4th floor. This Kadapa Maharaj palace contains 14 escalators, 10 lifts, one mini theatre, squash courts, gym, 30-bed rooms and several bath rooms equaling to the size of single bed room flats.

The Jagan palace is being constructed over a combined area of six plots numbering 2, 3,4,6,7 and 8 in HUDA Heights of the Lotus Ponds area. Jagan bought the 6 plots in the name of four fake companies-Capstone Infra, Marvel Infra, Harish Infra and Utopia Infra and combined the land for constructing

the palace. The total area of this combined plot is equal to one and a half acre.

Jagan obtained permission for constructing this on July 6, 2010 and began constructing his palace on the land which can otherwise provide accommodation to more than 275 normal families. In this palace, Jagan will stay with his wife and two children.

Jagan spent more than Rs. 5 Cr for providing electric fencing which will also be guarded by gun totting security men. The building has surveillances of powerful cameras too. Jagan is also constructing a big complex to house his party office and also a big church in this palace.

Sakshi disclosure

Jagan-owned Telugu daily Sakshi published in its edition dated September 10, 2010 a news story saying that the land in question belonged to Jagan and Jagan was constructing a house on it. It published the photo of the house under construction.

However, Jagan did not mention these details in his election affidavit while filing his nomination to the Kadapa Lok Sabha by election.  And in fact, neither the house under construction nor the land on which the palace is coming up is in the name of Jagan.

Will Jagan ever explain the contradiction and the necessity of having a large palace  in an area of one - and- a -half -acre for his small family? Does he want to establish a monarchy in Andhra Pradesh and rule its citizens like the once Russian Tsars?  

(Based on Andhra Jyothy story)