Rahul Questions Lapses In Kaleshwaram Project

Hyderabad: Continuing his blistering attack on the ruling BRS for the “quality lapses” in the Kaleshwaram project, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dared Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to inspect the project personally as the pillars of barrages constructed under the Kaleshwaram project were sinking and leaking one after the other.

Addressing public meetings in Jadcherla, Kalwakurthy and Shadnagar on Wednesday as part of the second day of his campaigning for Assembly polls in Telangana, Rahul Gandhi said, "Chandrashekhar Rao has significantly raised Kaleshwaram project cost to over Rs 1 lakh crore. He looted Rs 1 lakh crore from the people and yet he failed to construct the project properly pushing the state into a debt-trap. To repay this debt, every family in Telangana will have to contribute Rs 31,500 per year until 2040."

Rahul Gandhi also displayed ‘Kaleshwaram ATM’ in the Shadnagar public meeting to stress his point on how CM and his family members used the project as an ATM to loot Rs 1 lakh crore public money.

The Congress leader said that "Bye Bye KCR" slogans were reverberating across Telangana state ahead of Assembly polls. "What I noticed during my campaigning in Telangana in two days is that people are giving 'Bye Bye KCR' slogans everywhere. It shows how people of Telangana are eager to remove KCR from CM's post."

He said that the people of Telangana state once dreamed of a state where the people would govern, but in the past decade, that dream has been shattered, and KCR has ruled like a dictator. “All the key revenue earning portfolios like revenue (land), mining (sand), and excise (liquor) are under the control of CM and his family members due to which they looted huge public wealth in the last nine years,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said previous Congress governments have allocated lakhs of acres to Dalits, Tribals, and backward classes due to which the people of Telangana had a deep affection for the Congress and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

On the other hand, the "Dorala Sarkar" (feudal government) of the BRS has grabbed the poor people's lands using the Dharani portal, affecting over 20 lakh farmers. He alleged that Dharani benefitted only KCR's family, his ministers and his MLAs.

"We will first dethrone KCR from the CM seat, and then he will be held accountable for the money he looted. We have decided that the amount KCR has looted from the people of Telangana will be returned to the people. I'm not Narendra Modi, Whenever I make a promise, it will be fulfilled," Rahul said.

The Congress leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured to deposit Rs 15 lakhs in everyone's account, which didn't happen while Adani has got lakhs of crores in his accounts.

He alleged that BRS, BJP, and AIMIM were working together. “In the Lok Sabha, BRS has supported BJP in crucial bills such as GST and controversial farm laws. The BJP is filing cases against all opposition leaders, but there were no cases against KCR and it proves that KCR and Modi were working together,” the Congress leader said.

He took a dig at the BJP for announcing to make a person from the OBC sections as CM of Telangana. "The BJP has announced OBC CM for Telangana if it is voted to power. The BJP doesn't have even two per cent vote share in Telangana. How can the BJP make an OBC person a CM? It is like PM Modi going to America and proclaiming that he will make an OBC president there. Neither you can make an OBC an American President nor Chief Minister in Telangana," Rahul said.