Telengana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao alias KCR has just moved into his newly finished 9-acre house in Hyderabad’s Begumpet. The CM performed a ‘griha pravesh’ (house-warming ceremony) early on Thursday morning, along with his wife and others.

And it’s loaded with features. Here’s what you should know: 

• Located in Begumpet, the new quarters (including the fresh constructions and the two old official/residential buildings previously used by the CM) are together being called ‘Pragati Bhavan’ 
• The palatial house, covering almost 9 acres, was built by the Shapoorji Pallonji group 
• Every inch of the house has been Feng-Shui and Vaastu-approved. The total cost of the new chief ministerial residence is estimated to be close to Rs 50 crores, NDTV reports. 
• The house includes facilities such as a movie theatre-cum-auditorium, that can accommodate almost 250 people.
• The house allegedly has 150 rooms and the CM can meet almost 1,000 people inside the premises, Andhra Watch reports. 
• Other facilities include a huge conference hall named ‘Janahita’ and a mini-secretariat block to house official buildings within premises (the secretariat’s construction has not been complete yet.)
• For security, windows in Pragati Bhavan are allegedly bullet-proof, including the ones inside bathrooms and KCR’s office spaces, as well as inside his and his son’s bedroom. 
• Janahita has apparently been designed inspired by Akbar’s Diwan-i-Aam, where the emperor met with his courtiers and subjects to discuss their problems. KCR will allegedly meet farmers, workers, farmers to discuss policy and implementation and wanted facilities to permit that. 
• The premises will also include homes for senior government officials in the KCR government and a car parking with a capacity to hold a whopping 300 cars. 
• At least 50 security personnel will allegedly be deployed at all times to keep a firm eye on the CM. People entering the premises will be frisked, and their phones and electronics need to be deposited before entering the premises. 

Why the new home? 

KCR allegedly built his magnum opus since his old home and office quarters, which are right behind the new house, were not vaastu compliant, which many believe brings bad luck and poor health. 

KCR is well known for his belief in vastu. 

Other reports also claim that the main reason for constructing new quarters was because the old one did not have adequate parking or other facilities to hold meetings involving large numbers of people. 

The high security given to the new residence has attracted attention. According to a report in Times of India, the CM had been advised to increase security by state intelligence forces. 

KCR is already a high-security VIP , who travels in ‘mine-proof’ cars with an entourage of security personnel at all times. 

Opposition slams KCR

Opposition leader Mohammad Ali Shabbir (of Telangana Legislative Council), said that in constructing the new house, the CM had committed a ‘morally incorrect’ and ‘insensitive act’ since he had not yet fulfilled his electoral promise of building double bedroom houses for the poor, News 18 reported. 

Opposition leader Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy had earlier told New Indian Express: 

“The CM is behaving like Nero by doing things as per his whims for a luxurious lifestyle at a time when people in the state are facing hardships.” 

(Nero is the fabled Roman Emperor, blamed for whiling haway time in trivialities as Rome burnt) 

Opposition has also targeted KCR for exorbitant spending, blaming him for using up taxpayer’s money to fund his  superstitious, vastu-driven dream-home project. 

The initial cost of the construction, which had been projected at Rs 35 crores, has exceeded Rs 50 crores. The yet to be completed secretariat, which is rumored to be the CM’s new official camp, is expected to take expenses beyond the Rs 150 crore mark. 

According to security sources, the expenses incurred on security were important to ensure the safety of the CM, who enjoys Z Plus security status,  and hence the ‘extra money’ spent on security shall not be a ‘waste.’ 

Feature Image Source: PTI/Twitter/@ndtv