At a Hare Krishna Movement event in Hyderabad, the Chief Minister explained that the Bhagavad Gita inspires such actions. He cited Lord Krishna’s teaching that for the benefit of the people, it is necessary to uphold righteousness (dharma) and oppose wrongdoing (adharma), even if it means confronting close associates.

Accoridng to NDTV, Reddy reportedly said, "Arjuna had wanted to back out from the war, saying what is the point if i have to kill my own? But Krishna says for the larger good, for dharma to win over adharma, you must fight. That is what i am trying to do, going ahead with demolitions to save lakes though i know i will upset many people who can impact my government adversely."

He added, "We have a duty to protect Hyderabad, to stop it from becoming another Chennai, Uttarakhand or Wayanad."

The government authorities on Saturday demolished the N-Convention centre in Madhapur here, which is jointly owned by Telugu superstar Nagarjuna, for allegedly being constructed on encroached land on the Full Tank Level of the Tammidikunta lake.

Actor Nagarjuna, approached the Telangana High Court seeking a stay on the demolition, and the court granted an interim stay.

Nagarjuna in a post on 'X' said they had "not done any actions in violation of law" and the demolition was clearly carried out "wrongfully based on misinformation".

The officials of Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), GHMC, Town Planning, Irrigation and Revenue departments removed encroachments in the Full Tank Level (FTL)/Buffer zones of the lake, and amongst the many structures removed. N-Convention was also one of the unauthorised structures, an official release said.

N-Convention is built in the FTL/Buffer zone and has no building permission whatsoever, it said.

(With PTI inputs)