Hyderabad: BRS working president KTR alleged large-scale irregularities in the lift irrigation project tenders for the Kodangal-Narayanpet-Makthal scheme. He accused the Revanth Reddy government of manipulating the bidding process and misusing public funds. KTR raised the allegations in a post on X on Saturday.
He claimed that a company linked to Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy was the only genuine bidder. The other participating firms, he alleged, were merely dummy companies on paper. KTR compared the process to a race in which only one participant competed and won.
He also questioned the sharp rise in the project’s estimated cost. According to KTR, the initial estimate stood at around Rs 1,450 crore. The amount had since increased nearly fivefold to Rs 6,825 crore, he said.
Lift irrigation project tenders draw criticism over cost escalation
KTR alleged that the increased project cost would divert thousands of crores in public money. He also claimed that the scheme had not delivered even a drop of water to the public so far.
He contrasted the alleged spending on irrigation projects with the difficulties faced by ordinary residents. People were standing in queues for water tankers, while Congress leaders were looting Telangana’s resources in the name of irrigation projects, he alleged.
KTR tagged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his post and questioned the alleged conduct of the state government. He said terms such as “crony capitalism”, “daylight robbery” and “kleptocracy” appeared inadequate to describe what he alleged was happening.
Addressing Rahul Gandhi, KTR sarcastically asked him to help find a new term to describe the alleged exploitation of Telangana’s resources.