Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) Working President and former minister K T Rama Rao Thursday slammed A Revanth Reddy’s government as “corrupt and spineless”, and claimed that the state had become “lawless”.
Rao, popularly known as KTR, launched the attack on the Congress government even as his father, BRS supremo and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, held a two-hour brainstorming session with party leaders on strategy for the bypoll in the prestigious Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in Hyderabad. This is the first time KTR has gone full blast against the Congress government.
Speaking at the party headquarters, Telangana Bhavan, KTR said the Congress had turned Telangana into a “mafia state, not Indiramma Rajyam” as it claimed.
“Congress rule is Telangana’s darkest era of corruption and lawlessness. IAS and IPS officers are fleeing under pressure from Congress’ governance,” he said.
This comes a day after Senior IAS officer Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi resigned Wednesday and opted for VRS from October 31. Although the reason for his decision is still unknown, there are speculations that Rizvi, Secretary for Revenue (Commercial Taxes and Excise) and holding full additional charge as Secretary, General Administration Department (Political), had a tiff with Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao over the delay in awarding contracts to hologram suppliers for liquor bottles.
Without naming Rizvi, KTR said IAS and IPS officers were living in fear under the Congress regime. “Many are opting for voluntary retirement due to constant political interference and pressure to act illegally,” he said. He accused Congress ministers of running an extortion racket, and turning governance into a “settlement bazaar” for commissions and illegal earnings.
“Honest officers are being harassed, while corrupt ministers have turned the Secretariat into a trading centre for contracts and kickbacks,” he said. “BJP and Congress are running a joint venture in Telangana as both are silent on rampant corruption.”
KTR also slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, saying he was “the weakest Chief Minister the state has seen”. Referring to media reports of a minister whisking away an official accused of corruption during a police raid and the subsequent allegations against Reddy, he said: “When a minister’s own daughter accused the Chief Minister of being involved in the incident, he chose to remain shamefully silent. When your own ministers openly level corruption charges against you and you still cannot act, that shows how spineless the leadership is”.
Accusing Congress ministers of illegally acquiring prime land in Manchirevula, he said: “This entire government is functioning like a real estate syndicate. The Congress has turned governance into their family affair”.
KTR also criticised the BJP for its silence on these issues, calling it a “joint venture administration” between the BJP and Congress.
“Neither [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah nor any central minister has spoken about Telangana’s corruption. The BJP is shielding the Congress,” he alleged.
The high-decibel Jubilee Hills bypoll is on November 11.
