Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said that Telangana has for the first time witnessing a corruption-free rule. “Since two years... never in history... there is corruption-free rule. People are appreciating it. Even the PM complimented it. Unable to digest a clean administration, they (the Congress) allege that projects estimates were jacked up and there is corruption. Since two years I have maintained silence and wanted to be a gentleman,” he said.
He added, “Uttam Kumar Reddy and company and ‘Chikiri bikiri’ TD company, hereafter I will file cases against you. Prove it or have jail food.”
The Chief Minister, irrigation minister T. Harish Rao and others who returned to Hyderabad from Mumbai after signing the MoU with Maharashtra were accorded a tumultuous welcome at Begumpet airport by thousands of people and artistes besides Cabinet ministers, MPs, legislators and TRS leaders and workers. They were taken in a rally atop a bus for some distance.
“Uttam Kumar Reddy ... if you are honest I will stay put at Begumpet airport for another half-an-hour to 40 minutes... if you have the guts, come with the Tammidihatti agreement copy here. If it’s true, I will not go home but go straight to Raj Bhavan and submit my resignation to the Governor. I will take political sanyas. You are indulging in such blatant lies,” he charged.
“After two years, when Kaleshwaram, Yellampally and Mid-Manair waters will come to Medak district, we won’t have to look towards the sky for rains. Telangana will be top in the agriculture sector,” he added.
The Chief Minister said that the agreement with Maharashtra was done after a series of deliberations, diplomacy and patience for one and half years. “Everyone is happy barring the Congress ‘sanyasulu’ who seek black flags. There is a limit even to telling lies. The Congress and the Telugu Desam destroyed the state,” he said.
BJP: Only Maharashtra will benefit
TS BJP on Wednesday slammed the TRS government for its “unilateral” agreement with the BJP-ruled Maharashtra government for construction of three irrigation projects. TS BJP president K. Laxman who is in New Delhi, said that any agreement between two states should benefit both. “It’s not a historic agreement as is claimed, but a unilateral agreement. The TS government bowed down to the conditions imposed by Maharashtra. We feel the agreement was done as per the conditions imposed by Maharashtra,” he said.
Dr Laxman added, “As claimed by this government, it’s not a historic agreement. Why? Because benefits are questionable. Not an acre of land will get water through gravity. The government is spending Rs 1.5 lakh-crore, but it has not revealed Detailed Project Report, cost of lift, power generation etc.”
He said that the BJP doesn’t dispute the fact that there should be good relationship with neighbouring states. “But the government is duty-bound to protect the state’s interests. Forgetting this, TS government entered into MoU for the sake of the MoU. It did did not take the Opposition and people into confidence and signed the agreement post haste. It should have convened an all-party meet before signing the MoU,” Dr Laxman said.
Accusing the Congress of ignoring projects despite being in power in undivided AP, Maharashtra and at the Centre, he said the then government failed to get projects for the state.
