Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday and once again seek funds for various projects, a list that has been submitted by the CM to the PM and other Union ministers on several occasions in the past. This will be the third meeting of Revanth with the PM since becoming CM, and the first since this year’s Union budget, which the state has alleged ignored Telangana.
Among the demands to be listed by the CM are funds for irrigation projects, Musi rejuvenation and Gandhi Sarovar project at Bapu Ghat, Hyderabad Metro Rail expansion, Future City, pending promises of the state reorganisation Act and Regional Ring Road.
The CM, who reached the national capital on Tuesday evening, may also meet some Union ministers depending upon their schedules.
In the meeting with PM, the CM is expected to tell him about the comprehensive household caste survey in Telangana. He will also explain the two Bills extending 42% reservations to BCs in local bodies, and education and employment, and the third bill on SC categorisation that will be introduced in the assembly. He will seek the PM’s support for BC quota enhancement and its inclusion in the IX schedule of the Constitution and the SC categorisation Bill to be passed in Parliament too.
The chief minister’s office (CMO) has been seeking an appointment with the PM since the Union budget. The appointment came about after the CM requested the PM for a meeting when the latter had called him to enquire about the tunnel collapse at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC). During the meeting on Wednesday, the CM will also apprise Modi about the ongoing operation to rescue eight men trapped in the tunnel.
A day earlier, the CM, in an MLC election campaign meetings on Monday, had said that while the PM had responded positively to his earlier requests, it was Union minister G Kishan Reddy who was blocking them so that the Congress govt does not get credit for it ahead of polls.
Prior to this, CM Revanth had questioned Modi’s BC status, claiming that he was not a BC by birth but a legally converted one. He later clarified that he did not make any personal comment against Modi or against the PM’s chair.
After the meeting with the PM, the CM may meet AICC leadership for discussions on candidates to be fielded for five MLC seats under the MLAs quota that go to polls on March 20.
FUND WISHLIST
Rs 24,269 crore for Hyderabad Metro Rail expansion project
Rs 14,100 crore for the development of Gandhi Sarovar at Bapu Ghat as part of the Musi rejuvenation project
Rs 7,440 crore for interlinking Godavari and Musi to divert five tmc of water and purify river Musi
