Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy questioned why the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) had remained silent on the Dharmendra Pradhan issue and had not demanded the resignation of the Union Education Minister. He accused the opposition party of attacking the Congress government while avoiding the issue.
The Chief Minister referred to the deaths of 27 Intermediate students during the previous BRS government. According to him, mistakes in the evaluation of answer scripts had contributed to the deaths. He also demanded that BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao prove his integrity in the Globarena issue and apologise for the student deaths.
During an informal interaction with reporters at the Assembly on Thursday, he said officials had completed 70% of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across Telangana. The Chief Minister alleged that the exercise could result in the deletion of voters’ names and said the government had deployed Booth Level Officers to prevent irregularities.
Revanth Reddy raises electoral roll and Kaleshwaram issues
The Chief Minister questioned how beneficiaries could receive government welfare schemes if their names were removed from the electoral rolls. Responding to BRS allegations that he had voter registrations in two places, he challenged the party to lodge a complaint. He said he had already applied to the Collector to transfer his voter registration and warned that he would initiate action against BRS leaders if they filed a false complaint.
According to the Chief Minister, the previous electoral roll revision had removed the names of Andhra-origin voters within the GHMC limits. The Congress had approached the court over the matter, he said. He claimed the court had expressed displeasure with the then GHMC Commissioner.
The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) had recovered several encroached properties, the Chief Minister said. He alleged that the previous BRS government had compromised quality standards during the construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. Revanth Reddy claimed former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had sidelined T. Harish Rao for some time and had kept him out of the Cabinet because of corruption allegations linked to the project.
Further, he alleged that Telangana BJP leaders were divided over internal issues. The Chief Minister accused BRS leaders of selling double-bedroom houses meant for poor beneficiaries through middlemen. He also challenged K.T. Rama Rao to seek an inquiry into the Janwada farmhouse land issue.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said his government had reopened Dharna Chowk at Indira Park after assuming office. Unlike the previous BRS administration, his government had allowed protests at the venue. He remarked that K.T. Rama Rao now wanted to stage demonstrations at the same location.