Cong demands public apology from KCR over poor quality of 'Bathukamma saris'
Hyderabad: Senior Congress MLAs D.K. Aruna, N. Padmavathi, Komatireddy Venkata Reddy and T. Jeevan Reddy on Tuesday demanded a public apology from Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao for the distribution of poor quality saris on the eve of Bathukamma.
They also condemned the IT minister for alleging that Congress leaders were involved in the burning of saris at various places in the state.
“As women, we know how poor the quality was. What does K.T. Rama Rao knew about women’s saris? The government failed to check the quality of the saris being supplied to women on the eve of Bathukamma. Why should the government supply such poor stuff? It is all public money, not the personal property of the Chief Minister or K.T. Rama Rao. We demand that the government ensure the distribution of good quality saris,” the Congress women MLAs said at a press conference.
The MLAs also criticised K.T. Rama Rao for trying to defend the distribution of cheap saris and for using intemperate language against the Opposition. They said that the government had failed to order the saris from handloom weavers across the state, and had instead favoured Sircilla powerloom weavers from the constituency represented by K.T. Rama Rao.
“We want to know whether family members of the Chief Minister and K.T. Rama Rao, especially the self-styled Bathukamma festival icon Kalvakuntla Kavitha, would wear the saris that were distributed on Monday?” the Congress MLAs asked.
They demanded the withdrawal of cases foisted by the police against women who had organised and participated in protests.
At another press conference, senior Congress MLAs T. Jeevan Reddy and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy alleged that middlemen, at the behest of TRS leaders and ministers, were behind a scam to the tune of '150 crore in the purchase of saris from Surat.
They said that the government should have bought high quality saris irrespective of the cost so that women were not insulted by the government.
