YSR Congress leader Jagan Mohan Reddy thought he was the Saddam Hussein of Andhra Pradesh and would stay in power for 30 years, TDP leader and minister Nara Lokesh said today, hitting out at the former Chief Minister amid the row over his lavish mansion at Rushikonda Hills. 

“It was a project of Andhra Pradesh’s tourism department before it was converted into a ‘sheesh mahal’. Former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy thought that he was the ‘Saddam Hussain’ of Andhra Pradesh and that he would remain in power for 30 years,” Mr Lokesh, who is the son of TDP leader and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Saddam Hussein was Iraq’s dictator and ruled the country from 1979 to 2003. His administration is widely seen as totalitarian and the Ba’ath party leader is held responsible for mass killings and numerous other acts of repression.

“My grandfather was the Chief Minister, my father is Chief Minister, but I have never seen such big rooms. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also imposed penalties of Rs 200 crores on the state, and ‘sheesh mahal’ was built there,” he said.

Mr Lokesh said the YSRCP chief has a small family “His sister and mother have been removed from the family. For four people to live in a house, Rs 700 crore was spent. Even the Prime Minister doesn’t have such a big house,” he said, adding that the TDP government will take a call on what to do with the palatial house.

The son of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy fell out with his sister YS Sharmila over her decision to join the Congress. The siblings’ mother YS Vijayalakshmi has backed her daughter.

Following the TDP’s thumping win and return to power in the Andhra polls last year, the Chandrababu Naidu government has accused the previous regime of gross misuse of public money.

The Chief Minister’s residence, commissioned during Mr Reddy’s tenure, has come under the spotlight for its opulence. Spread over 10 acres in the scenic Rushikonda Hills, a prime tourist destination, the premises comprise four blocks. Visuals from inside the complex have revealed extravagant interiors, Italian flooring and plush furnishings.