Congress demands probe into expenses on BRS meeting

Hyderabad/Kamareddy: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has misused public funds to conduct the BRS public meeting in Khammam.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday at Kamareddy, Shabbir Ali said that the Chief Minister had spent crores of rupees to organise a public meeting of his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Khammam. Instead of spending the entire amount from the party funds, KCR linked two government events with his public meeting to misuse the public money. He said Chief Ministers of Delhi, Punjab and Kerala - Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann and Pinayari Vijayan visited Telangana only to attend the BRS meeting. But KCR invited them for the inauguration of Khammam Integrated Collectorate and the launch of the second phase of Kanti Velugu. By doing so, he transferred all the expenditure on their visit to the public exchequer, he said.

Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party would prepare a detailed report on the misuse of public money for the BRS meeting and submit a memorandum to Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan seeking a high-level probe.

The Congress leader described the BRS meeting in Khammam as a flop show. He said as against the claim of having an attendance of more than 5 lakh people, not even 1 lakh people participated in the meeting. "Having ruled Telangana with both arrogance and ignorance for the last nine years, KCR is now enacting new dramas. BRS meeting in Khammam was the first scene in a long film KCR proposes to divert people's attention from his failures," he said.

Shabbir Ali said that the battle for Telangana's statehood was fought on three slogans - Neelu (water), Nidhulu (funds) and Niyamakalu (jobs). He said none of these goals have been achieved in the last eight years. He said that the BRS Govt failed to protect the interest of Telangana in sharing Godavari and Krishna waters. He said CM KCR had remained a mute spectator to the illegal construction of various projects including Pothireddypadu by the Andhra Pradesh Govt. Before the formation of Telangana, KCR used to address the people of Andhra Pradesh in abusive and unparliamentary language. But now, he is busy doing 'Alai Balai' with Andhra people and showering favours on Andhra contractors, he said.

"KCR Govt did not fulfill any of the promises he made with the people of Telangana. Now he is making promises to the people of India. As a Chief Minister, KCR is a total failure. Now he is dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister. KCR has realised that the people of Telangana will not praise him. Therefore, he is importing people from other States to praise him. Telangana is not a model State in any sector," he said.

Shabbir Ali said that Telangana was in huge debt of more than Rs. 5 lakh crore due to the wrong policies of CM KCR. "Almost 21% of the State's income is being spent on high-interest and loan repayment. Earlier, it used to be around 3-4%. State Govt is unable to pay salaries to its staff on time. Telangana Congress leaders were so efficient that they fought and got statehood from the Central Govt of their own party. But KCR is unable to get any funds from the Centre. There are no funds for the local bodies and Zilla Parishads and Gram Panchayat staff are not getting their salaries," he alleged.

He said that Telangana was at the bottom of 29 States in spending on Health and Education sectors. He said lakhs of students were suffering due to the non-release of scholarships and Fee reimbursement dues. He said there was not a single university from Telangana among the top institutions in the country as they are suffering due to a shortage of funds and staff.

"KCR and other CMs launched the second phase of the Kanti Velugu scheme in Khammam yesterday (Wednesday). This initiative is an insult to common people. Do eye-related problems come once a year or only when Kanti Velugu is held? Why are there no permanent eye hospitals in all districts? What happened to the promise of establishing one super speciality hospital in each district?" he asked.

Shabbir Ali also alleged that Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana (TSSPDCL) was sending erratic bills to consumers to collect exorbitant amounts from them illegally. Further, he said that the consumers were being forced to pay Advance Consumption Demand (ACD) charges. He said that the Congress party would launch an agitation on this issue.