Rahul Gandhi alleged that KCR spent crores of rupees on the Kaleshwaram project, which pushed Telangana into severe debt.
Published Nov 01, 2023 | 9:10 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 01, 2023 | 9:16 PM
Medigadda Barrage (X)
Within a few days of some pillars of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram project sinking partially, water leakage from the Annaram Saraswathi barrage has been detected.
Both Medigadda and Annaram were constructed as part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.
The leakage has prompted the BJP and the Congress to criticise Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) over the issue.
They have asked KCR to visit the project sites and announce remedial measures.
The two national parties criticised the chief minister for the frequent escalation in the cost of the project, which was completed at a cost of over ₹1 lakh crore.
They said that despite the cost escalations, the quality of work had been found wanting, and that the Medigadda and Annaram projects had developed problems within a few years of completion.
Addressing a public meeting in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district on Wednesday, 1 November, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi criticised KCR, alleging that substandard work had gone into the construction of the Kaleshwaram project.
“Chandrashekar Rao spent crores of rupees to construct the project, and turned the state into a debt-ridden one,” he said.
Shri. Rahul Gandhi displays the Kaleshwaram ATM on the stage.
Kaleshwaram project is the epitome KCR's corruption. pic.twitter.com/TybAemhXcc
— Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) November 1, 2023
Rahul said that Congress governments constructed Nagarjuna Sagar, Singur, Sriram Sagar, and Priyadharshini Jurala Project, among others, decades ago in the state, and they still stand strong, catering to the needs of people — especially farmers.
However, KCR spent thousands of crores of rupees in constructing Kaleshwaram, and it had already developed problems, he added.
Rahul said that only KCR’s family members benefited after the formation of a separate Telangana state.
“The ‘doralu’ (feudal lords or overlords) are ruling Telangana, and the chief minister’s family has looted crores of rupees in the name of the Kaleshwaram, and causing the state to slide into severe debt,” he said.
He stated that KCR’s family got all the important posts after a separate Telangana was carved out of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
Stating that the Congress gave lands to Dalits and Backward Class (BC) communities, Rahul alleged that the ruling BRS snatched the lands from them after introducing the Dharani portal — a one-stop destination for carrying out agricultural land transactions.
Rahul called upon the people to dethrone the BRS government. He claimed that if the Congress was voted to power, the new government would take back the ill-gotten wealth of KCR’s family.
He said that the Congress would also implement the guarantees given to the people ahead of the elections.
Meanwhile, former Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in conversation with reporters in New Delhi, criticised KCR for failing to respond to the issue of damage caused to the Medigadda and Annaram projects.
“He (KCR) responds when tenders are called for, but he won’t respond when there is a crisis,” he said.
When his attention was drawn to the claim made by the Telangana government that a possible explosion could have resulted in the sinking of the pillars of the Medigadda barrage, he dismissed it and sought to know what the police and intelligence department were doing.
