D.K. Aruna
| Photo Credit: File Photo
The Congress government in Telangana appears to be “protecting” former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao by refusing to order a CBI probe into the alleged corruption related to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), State BJP vice-president D.K. Aruna has alleged.
Addressing a press conference at the party office, she said that the government has been indulging in delaying tactics on seeking a probe into the controversial project and demanded a fresh order allowing the CBI to investigate cases in Telangana.
The Congress party, when in Opposition, and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy when he was its party president, had sought a CBI probe but now they are silent ever since coming to power. “It is better to order a CBI investigation than the proposed judicial probe considering that the BRS government had deliberately increased the cost from ₹63,000 crore to ₹1.50 lakh crore under the guise of project redesign,” she charged.
Ms.Reddy pointed out that the Chief Minister had earlier also accused the BJP-led Centre and the Union Ministers for their purported role in clearing KLIS, so now the onus is on Mr. Revanth Reddy to explain his change of heart and his present stand.
The BJP leader said the loopholes in the irrigation project have been getting exposed one by one, starting with collapse of cement lining of the gravity canal at Bhupalapally on July 9, 2020; similar incident near Lakshmi pump house and later the submergence of the motors at the Lakshmi and Annaram pumphouses happened in July 14, 2022, raising doubts about the design and construction quality, she added.
Meeting tomorrow
Earlier, Telangana BJP president and Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of Northeast Region G.Kishan Reddy, national general secretary Sunil Bansal and others held a preparatory meeting to discuss the agenda for the conclave to discuss the campaign plan for Parliament elections.
Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman, national general secretaries Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Tarun Chugh, Arvind Menon, MPs, MLAs and other senior leaders will be participating in the conclave, said a press release.
