Revanth Reddy’s brother-in-law awarded govt project worth over Rs 1,000 crore, claims KTR: ‘Who will blow the whistle?’

Rao, popularly known as KTR, wrote a letter to Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, alleging that the CM’s brother-in-law S Srujan Reddy’s company was awarded a contract worth Rs 1,137 crore “despite its meagre profit declaration of Rs 2.2 crore for the financial year 2021-2022”.

KTR sought a probe into the awarding of AMRUT contracts in Telangana. “The prerequisites for AMRUT tenders are technical expertise and financial stability. Going by the financial statements and the history of the said firm, the allotment seems contentious,” he claimed.

The Telangana government had originally awarded the contract to Indian Hume Pipe Co. Ltd (IHP). However, KTR claimed IHP declared that about 80 per cent of the Rs 1,137 crore work would be executed by Sodha Infrastructure Limited. “Was there an underlying understanding in the very first stage of allotment?” he asked.

KTR also sought a probe into all tender allotments in Telangana under AMRUT 2.0, worth Rs 8,888.51 crore.

“This AMRUT tender allotment is a direct violation of the Code of Conduct. Public representatives and their family cannot participate in business engaged in supplying goods or services to that government. If that happens, the matter needs to be reported to the Chief Minister. But, if the Chief Minister and his family are directly involved in corrupt practices, who will blow the whistle? Not just Code of Conduct, the tender allotment is a clear case of violation of Article 191(1) of the Indian Constitution,” he alleged.

He also said the tender allotment “has a strong similarity to the office-of-profit case against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren”.

Telangana Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy rejected the allegations and said the contracts were awarded after following due process. He accused KTR of rushing to New Delhi to seek help as he is expecting trouble due to allegations of corruption against him in connection with the conduct of a Formula E car race in Hyderabad under the previous BRS government. The Telangana government has recently written to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma seeking permission to file an FIR against KTR.

In a statement, Shodha Constructions Pvt Limited said it has considerable experience in executing infrastructure works, including tunnel excavations. It clarified that it entered into a joint venture with AMR India Pvt Ltd and IHP Limited and that its share in the JV is only 29 per cent.