KCR, Witness No. 115, Set To Appear Before Ghose Panel
Chandrashekar Rao, scheduled to appear before the commission at 11 am, will leave his farmhouse in Erravalli in Siddipet district in the morning accompanied by senior leaders, go to Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters, from where he will leave in a convoy to BRK Bhavan.
Hyderabad:All attention is expected to stay focused on BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, the self-claimed architect and engineer and brains behind the Kaleshwaram schedule, on Wednesday when he is scheduled to appear before the Justice P.C. Ghose commission of inquiry. He has been designated Witness No. 115.
The BRS, which has accused the Congress government of a witch-hunt targeting Chandrashekar Rao, is all set to make a political statement with a show of strength with thousands of its workers and leaders set to accompany him in a rally to BRK Bhavan, where the commission’s office is situated near the Telangana Secretariat.
Chandrashekar Rao, scheduled to appear before the commission at 11 am, will leave his farmhouse in Erravalli in Siddipet district in the morning accompanied by senior leaders, go to Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters, from where he will leave in a convoy to BRK Bhavan.
It was learnt on Tuesday that no special measures were being taken in terms of arrangements for Wednesday’s hearings by the commission. ‘Witness No. 115’ Chandrashekar Rao will be questioned in the same small hall where all the others have been cross-examined so far.
The hall which has limited seating space, is expected to be packed with BRS leaders, and media persons. BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao are expected to be present at the hearing.
With huge political significance attached to Chandrashekar Rao’s scheduled deposition before the commission, the event is likely to result in a flurry of political activity with the Congress and the BJP expected not to lose any time to use his questioning by the commission as an opportunity to mount a fresh round of attacks on him, and the then BRS government, on the Kaleshwaram project issue.
The Congress and its leaders, including Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, have been vocal in their criticism of the project, have umpteen times claimed that they believe he must carry the blame for the problems at Medigadda barrage, and for every other problem the project has faced. They have many a time referred to Kaleshwaram project as ‘kuleshwaram (collapsed one)’, and that there is no way Chandrashekar Rao and some other BRS leaders in the then government can escape retribution for their actions.
On the other hand, the BRS too had made it clear that every investigation into the project – be it the Vigilance & Enforcement investigation into Medigadda barrage, or the NDSA investigation and its report on the barrages, or the ongoing judicial commission probe – are nothing more than a political conspiracy to target the former chief minister. The BRS has alleged a collusion between the Congress and the BJP governments at the state and Centre to discredit its party president and the then BRS government.
Meanwhile, Harish Rao was closeted with Chandrashekar Rao for the second straight day at the latter’s farmhouse. The two leaders are learnt to have long discussions on the questions Harish Rao faced on Monday, as well many other witnesses faced, and likely questions Chandrashekar Rao may have to answer from Justice Ghose on Wednesday.
