Kishan Reddy's Singareni Visit Amid Naini Coal Row Assumes Significance

Hyderabad: Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy's two-day tour to Kothagudem, the headquarters of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), on Saturday and Sunday has gained massive political weight amid the raging controversy over the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government’s decision to cancel the tenders of Naini coal blocks that were allotted by the Centre.

With allegations of kickbacks and favoritism in tenders levelled by the BJP and the BRS, there is political pressure on Kishan Reddy, who heads the coal ministry and was instrumental in allotting in the Naini blocks, to convince the Centre to order a CBI probe into the row.

Kishan Reddy had on Thursday appointed a two-member team from Coal India Limited to investigate the issue.

Against this backdrop, Reddy's visit assumes critical importance. As per the schedule, Kishan Reddy hold a review meeting with officials of different wings of SCCL at Kothagudem on Friday evening, followed by another meeting with the stakeholders. He will be visiting the Padmavati mine in Kothagudem alongside Singareni workers on Sunday morning and take breakfast with Singareni workers.

Even in terms of political interests, the Singareni area constitutes a key vote bank, spread as it is over a number of districts from Mancherial to Khammam.