india

Updated: Nov 24, 2016 16:21 IST

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao moved into his new Rs 50 crore palatial house on early Thursday morning. Among various jaw-dropping features of the nine-acre office-cum-residence complex is a bullet-proof toilet. The windows of the complex are also fitted with bullet proof glass. In addition, there is a high-rise compound wall and closed circuit television cameras. Around 50 armed security personnel, including those from the intelligence wing, will guard the complex round the clock. KCR, as the chief minister is known, has Z+ security and travels in bullet-proof cars, with a mine-proof vehicle in his convoy.

Constructed by realty major Shapoorji Pallonji, the new office-cum-residence is fully Vaastu compliant. Apparently, the chief minister did not consider the office constructed during the regime of the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2005 (at cost of Rs 10 crore, spread over 1.5 acres), as lucky or in tune with his Vaastu beliefs. He only used the residential quarters and avoided even entering the office premises.

So he decided to demolish an IAS Officers Association in Begumpet to construct a bigger residential and official complex. According to his trusted Vaastu advisor, Suddaka Sudhakar Teja (who was appointed ‘advisor on architecture’ to the government last year), the new complex will provide positive vibes for KCR, and any future chief minister. “It has a lot of greenery and ventilation. Moreover, the earlier CM’s residence-cum-camp office had little space for the chief minister to meet the people or hold meetings with his officials. We have ensured that all such hassles are removed in the new building,” Teja told HT.

The official building complex, comprising five different buildings including the residential bungalow of the chief minister, and a conference hall has been named as Pragati Bhavan. The conference hall, named Janahita, with a seating capacity of 500, will be used by KCR to hold meetings to formulate the government’s policies and review their implementation, a spokesperson said.

It is one of the largest official-cum-residential complexes in the country.

KCR, as the chief minister is popularly known, along with his wife Shobha, performed the house-warming ceremony with Vedic rituals under the auspices of seer Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.

“As part of the rituals, the couple will perform Daiva Pravesam, Yati Pravesam, Go pravesam and other related ceremonies as per the holy scriptures. Governor ESL Narasimhan and his wife Vimala will be the special invitees,” a CMO official spokesperson said about the ceremony earlier.