Etela denies cancelling lease to Exhibition Society

Hyderabad: Finance Minister Etela Rajender on Wednesday denied reports that the Telangana Government has cancelled the land lease it had with the Exhibition Society.

In a media statement, Etela Rajender, who is also the president of Exhibition Society, alleged that a few persons were spreading rumours on cancellation of lease to the Society. He appealed to the people not to believe such reports. He said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had announced last year that the land, presently being possessed by the Exhibition Society, would be given on 99 years' lease to the Society. He said that the Exhibition Society, which has completed 76 years of its formation, was running 18 prominent educational institutions including Vanitha Mahavidyalaya, Kasturba Gandhi Girls College and Kamala Nehru Polytechnic. It also organizes All India Industrial Exhibition every year which is visited by lakhs of people.

The Finance Minister reiterated that the Exhibition Society's lease would not be cancelled by the government.

Earlier in the day, Congress senior leader and former MP V. Hanumantha Rao addressed a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan alleging that the government had cancelled the lease and allotted the Exhibition Grounds and other lands to Roads & Buildings Department.