Court orders removing YSRCP flag colours from govt buildings

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to immediately remove the ruling YSR Congress Party flag colours from all government buildings.

The court directed the Chief Secretary to ensure that panchayat bhavans and other government buildings are painted in some other colour within 10 days. The Chief Secretary was directed to submit a report on the implementation of its direction supported by evidence.

The court passed the orders on a petition filed by one M. Venkateshwara Rao of Guntur district.

The high court set aside an order of Panchayat Raj Commissioner for painting Panchayat Raj buildings in blue, white and green, which are the colours on the YSRCP flag.

After YSRCP came to power, several government offices, panchayat offices, anganwadis, school buildings, water tanks and other public buildings were painted with the ruling party's flag colours.

The officials were also issued orders with regard to the colours and specifications and size of the photo of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on the top of every building.

This move had come under attack from the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Leader of opposition N. Chandrababu had even tweeted a picture of a panchayat office, where the YSRCP party flag colours replaced the Tricolour.

After Tuesday's court order, Naidu said that re-painting the government offices with some other colour would cost Rs 3 crore. He wanted to know if YSRCP would bear the expenditure. IANS