RAJANNA-SIRCILLA, FEBRUARY 13, 2024: Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday questioned the propriety of the repeated tours of Telangana Congress leaders, including Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleagues and MLAs, to Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram, on the pretext of inspection.
Speaking to media persons at Konaraopet mandal headquarters of Vemulawada assembly constituency on the fourth-day of his Prajahita Yatra, Mr Sanjay said soon after the Congress came to power, a group of ministers had flown down to Kaleshwaram by helicopter to inspect the damages caused to Medigadda barrage.
“A team of engineering experts also visited the project site and submitted a report to the government. A Central team of experts also went to Medigadda to assess the extent of damage and submitted a report to the Centre. So, where is the need for the chief minister to lead a huge contingent of ministers, MLAs and media persons to Medigadda again today?” the BJP leader asked.
Sanjay alleged that the Congress government in the name of Kaleshwaram visit and Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the name of Nalgonda meeting on Krishna waters were enacting a high drama for their petty political gains and in the process wasting the precious time of the state assembly.
“It costs Rs 20,000 per minute to run the state assembly. As such, the government is spending crores of rupees on the assembly proceedings every year. But, these two parties have given a go-bye to the people’s issues and promises made to them before elections and have been indulging in mud-slinging at each other in their eagerness to show their faces on the television screens during the live-telecast of the proceedings,” he said.
Alleging that public money of more than Rs 1 lakh crore had gone down the drain due to the damages caused to Kaleshwaram project, Sanjay sought to know why the Congress government was hesitating to seek inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. “Since the high court chief justice expressed his inability to spare a sitting judge for the judicial probe, the Congress government should prove its sincerity by calling for a CBI probe into Kaleshwaram fiasco,” he demanded.
Sanjay regretted that there had been a debate all over the country why the people of Telangana had voted for the Congress, while it was the BJP which had fought tooth and nail against the BRS government. “I had undertaken padayatra for over 1600 km to fight for the people’s cause, but the Congress has reaped the benefits out of my efforts,” he said.
The BJP MP alleged that the Congress had not been able to implement its six guarantees promised before the elections. There was no crop loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh and payment of Rythu Bandhu to the extent of Rs 15,000 per acre, he criticised.
He reiterated that the Modi government had given huge funds for the welfare schemes and developmental programmes in Telangana in the last 10 years. For Vemulawada constituency alone, it had sanctioned Rs 575.91 crore under various schemes. “If I am proved wrong, let the BRS leaders file a case against me. It is unfortunate that the people have not voted for the BJP, despite doing so much for Karimnagar,” he said.
