File photo of M Raghunandan Rao | Photo Credit: MohdArif
Former MLA and senior BJP leader M. Raghunandan Rao has demanded the government request the Centre for ordering a probe into the entire Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project which he alleged was the “biggest scam” since Independence in the country.
Mr. Raghunandan Rao did not concur with the Congress government’s announcement for a probe by a High Court judge and asserted that only a CBI investigation will ferret out the truth. He reminded that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had demanded such a probe when he was just the TPCC president accusing the then BRS government of largescale corruption in the project.
“We fear that there is an effort to limit the project deficiencies and corruption to Medigadda barrage only where the piers have sunk into the ground. It is not fair to target a single company when other big infrastructure companies are involved,” he said.
The BJP leader’s contention was that the the BRS government had intentionally inflated the project cost from about ₹63,000 crore to about ₹1.50 lakh crore in the name of project redesign. The project had ensured water to an additional 42,000 acres only, he charged.
The BRS government led by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had even refused to part with details to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) despite repeated letters seeking the same. Mr. Revanth Reddy had offered to send details of the corruption to Home Minister Amit Shah earlier, what is preventing him from doing the same now, he questioned.
The Congress government repeated inferences to the Medigadda barrage repairs only has raised doubts about its motive in unearthing the truth in the entire Kaleshwaram project. The BJP leader also offered to share details of corruption with the government.
