Andhra Pradesh | Throw no stones at Sheesh Mahal

Jagan Mohan Reddy has once had to endure life in harsh confinement. Few know that, had he remained in power after the 2024 election, he would have been cocooned in the most opulent residence-cum-office of any CM—or, for that matter, even the PM. Plush bathrooms bigger than the average Mumbai 2BHK, a gym double that size at 1,096 square feet, spa, jacuzzi, game room, kingsize bedrooms at 650 sq. ft, all done up lavishly and cooled by multi-tonne central air-conditioning. That’s just ‘Vijayanagara’, the block that was to have served as the CM’s 12-room living quarters.

The other three blocks were named after the greatest kingdoms of these parts—Vengi, Kalinga, Gajapathi. These too were outfitted with spacious suites, conference halls, banquet halls, cafes, restaurant, studiowhat have you. All this was when Jagan, during his 2019-24 tenure as CM, was evolving his plan to turn around Chandrababu Naidu’s dream of a new capital at Amaravati to a controversial three-capital formula. The executive capital, and hence his own camp office, was to be here in coastal Visakhapatnam.

JAGAN’S JAM

The result: the ultimate sovereign citadel, a 10-acre perch carved out of the Rushikonda hill with a panoramic view of the Bay of Bengal at a cut-rate price of Rs 450 crore. The palatial G+1 structure, crouched atop an Eastern Ghat ridge above a popular beach spot, was originally planned to be a resort for the rich as work began under the aegis of the AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). However, in late 2023, as Jagan announced his CMO would soon shift to Vizag, a government panel recognised it as a place fit to serve as Jagan’s workcation-cum-sanctuary.

Thus, painted in the white of his minimalistic white shirts, the Rushikonda complex could have even rivalled the White House. But fate had other plans. Jagan never managed to stay in this gigantic sea-facing residence, which came up behind secretive barricades and was quietly inaugurated in February 2024. The full durbar move was slated for after election. But Jagan’s “sheeshmahal” itself became a hot topic during the campaign before he came a cropper in the May polls. Its opulence—Italian marble, gold-toned bath fittings, exotic bath tubs and commodes—came to light thereafter.

And its fate has been hanging in the balance ever since. Having cornered Jagan and his party over the fiscal ‘white hole’, the Naidu administration has been scratching its collective head on how to best use the complex. Adding to the complication are complaints it was built in violation of CRZ clearances and environmental norms, with the picturesque Rushikonda hill partially wrecked for it. As the debate raged, the aired suggestions included repurposing the complex as a museum, a conference hub, even a mental asylum! (The last being a satirical proposal from Goa governor and former Union minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who knows a thing or two about palace estates, having grown up as a scion of the last Maharaja of Vizianagaram.) Some others recalled how, in 2019, Jagan had demolished Naidu’s own Praja Vedika—a Rs 9 crore convention hall built as an extension of his residence on the Krishna’s banks at Undavalli near Amaravati—and prescribed the same SOP for Rushikonda.

As the government dragged its feet, officials say the complex totted up a monthly bill of Rs 12-15 lakh for basic upkeep—with zero utility. In contrast, the state-run Haritha Resort that was demolished in 2021 to make way for it, popular and in perfect shape, was earning Rs 7.5 crore a year. A cabinet sub-committee that Naidu constituted last year has now decided to rededicate it to the hospitality sector.

HOTELIERS CHECK IN

Its minister-members Payyavula Keshav (finance), Kandula Durgesh (tourism) and Veeranjaneya Swamy (social welfare) inspected the palace in mid-June. “We have to go for the PPP mode, so the APTDC also earns some revenue. We will discuss the proposal with hospitality majors,” says Kandula. Rushikonda’s interiors, more magnificent than many premium star hotels in India, should find takers. Speaking to india today, Kandula says top names like Leela, Taj et al have shown interest. “There are some challenges, like how to utilise the vast, extravagant rooms that Jagan built for himself,” he adds. “Also, the CRZ norms that will debar further construction—a disincentive for hoteliers. We need to address these aspects.”

At the same time, the Naidu regime appears keen to showcase Jagan’s splurge of public money to the public! So Kandula says a part of the complex may be developed as a public museum. If it could be turned to verse, it would make for quite an ironic epic.