Double Game Allegations Resurface Against CM Revanth Reddy
The Telangana government’s decision to seek a CBI inquiry into the Kaleshwaram project is like handing over its own powers into Prime Minister Modi’s hands. On one side, Congress senior leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has been repeatedly criticizing that the CBI and ED have turned into pawns in the hands of the BJP. In this very context, the decision taken by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Sunday on the Assembly floor has become a hot topic of discussion. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has long been facing criticism that he is playing a double game in the matter of the Kaleshwaram scam. Union Minister Kishan Reddy, along with BJP’s former state president Bandi Sanjay, had repeatedly demanded a CBI inquiry into the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project. Each time such a demand was raised, Congress leaders alleged that if the probe was handed to the CBI, the BJP would only try to protect KCR. But now, cutting to the present scene, Revanth Reddy’s government has done exactly that.
Not only that—while he was TPCC President, Revanth Reddy had even alleged that the BRS was paying protection money to the BJP to shield itself from the Kaleshwaram scam. If that were true, would the BJP-led central government really take action against KCR? How then is CM Revanth Reddy believing this? Even at the time of setting up the commission of inquiry into the Kaleshwaram project, by leaving aside the responsibility of investigating corruption and irregularities and including only the issues of Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla in the Terms of Reference, CM Revanth Reddy was suspected—by some ministers themselves—of doing so only to protect Megha Engineering Company, which faced severe criticism in this project. From the Vigilance report earlier to the present P.C. Ghosh Commission, there has been barely any mention of the works undertaken by Megha Engineering. Allegations are even being heard from within Congress circles that this entire sketch was drawn up jointly by CM Revanth Reddy and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy.
As the government approaches two years in power, demanding a CBI inquiry now in haste is being criticized as nothing more than an attempt by the Revanth Reddy government to shirk its own responsibilities. On one side, CM Revanth Reddy is accusing the Kaleshwaram project of massive corruption even inside the Assembly, but on the other side, he has not taken any stern measures in that direction. Comments are being heard that the contracts were given only out of greed for commissions and that those contract firms have now been seemingly exempted from the scam. Handing over the Kaleshwaram scam probe to the CBI may be politically useful in the days to come, but for now, Congress leaders themselves are saying this has become a deeply embarrassing development for Revanth Reddy and the Congress government. Justice P.C. Ghosh Commission, in its report, had clearly named former CM KCR, along with former ministers Harish Rao and Etela Rajender, as responsible for this. With such a clear report in hand, CM Revanth Reddy and the Congress government should have proceeded as per law. But instead, by tossing the ball into Modi’s government’s court, several suspicions are now being raised over this move.
