Hyderabad: Telangana finance minister T. Harish Rao criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his allegations of corruption in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, stating that Gandhi's claims demonstrated his ignorance.
"The state government has spent Rs 80,000 crore on the Kaleshwaram project so far. Rahul Gandhi says there was a Rs 1 lakh crore scam. When the project expenditure itself was Rs 80,000 crore, how is a Rs 1 lakh-crore scam possible? By making such baseless allegations, Rahul is showing his ignorance," the minister pointed out.
Addressing horticulture farmers in Siddipet, Harish distributed free sprinkler sets and cautioned against false promises made by Opposition parties, referring to them as 'mirages'. He further remarked, "Opposition parties were making promises in Telangana that they were unable to implement in states ruled by them."
He said allegations made by Opposition leaders were baseless and a result of their inability to accept the growing popularity of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
He highlighted the significance of the Kaleshwaram project for Telangana farmers, stating, "Telangana farmers could not have grown paddy in 56 lakh acres during the last rabi season without the Kaleshwaram project. The state government had spent Rs 26,000 crore to procure paddy during the last rabi season."
