BRS ex-Karimnagar mayor, mayor clash over smart city funds

Karimnagar: The controversy between two senior leaders of BRS, former mayor S. Ravinder Singh and the incumbent mayor Y. Sunil Rao on irregularities in the name of smart city works has created a storm in the party’s Karimnagar unit.

Singh alleged that there were several irregularities in the '133 crore sanctioned by former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for smart city works. Singh petitioned municipal commissioner Srinivas for a full-fledged inquiry into the issue.

Srinivas ordered officials to conduct an inquiry into the bills pertaining to the smart city projects and submit the report by the earliest.

Ravinder Singh clarified that he was not against the BRS but against corruption and those involved in such dubious practices. He said that this was also one of the reasons for the party’s rejection by Karimnagar voters in the recent Assembly elections.

Singh alleged that leaders and officials had diverted the funds. He wondered why Sunil Rao was worried when he was exposing inept engineers and other officials of the corporation.

Meanwhile, Rao condemned the allegations and said that there was no link to the voting pattern and Smart city works.

The ruling body of the municipal corporation and its officials never crossed the rules, he said. It is unfortunate that the former mayor was making such baseless allegations against them.

He dared Singh to prove his allegations, failing which he must apologise and rub his nose to the ground.