It has been nearly three weeks since the Congress government in Telangana had written to the Union home ministry seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in the construction of Kaleshwaram irrigation project during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime.
However, there has been no response from the Centre to the state government’s request so far.
When media persons asked chief minister A Revanth Reddy in New Delhi about the reason for the delay in the CBI probe into the Kaleshwaram scam, he said it could be due to the alleged nexus between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the BRS.
Revanth Reddy recalled that Union minister for coal and mines G Kishan Reddy, had repeatedly demanded a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project in the past, when the judicial commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge P C Ghose was probing.
“Kishan Reddy had even promised that the CBI inquiry into Kaleshwaram case would begin within 48 hours of receiving a request from the state government. Now, when the state government itself requested the CBI to take over the investigation, Kishan Reddy has gone into silent mode,” he said.
The chief minister alleged that Kishan Reddy had obliged to the request of BRS working president K T Rama Rao to stall the probe.
“This shows how deep the nexus is between KTR and Kishan Reddy,” he alleged.
Asked about the possible disqualification of 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly defected to the Congress in the past, the chief minister said there were no clear rules governing the matter.
“Even the BRS leaders themselves have no clarity on how to define defections. If someone is merely welcomed with a party scarf at my residence, does that count as defection?” he questioned.
On the conduct of local body elections, the chief minister said no decision had been taken yet and it won’t be possible conduct the elections before September end.
“Three bills relating to 42% reservations for Backward Classes are pending with the President. The issue of the President’s timeframe for a decision is before the Supreme Court. We are waiting to see what the apex court says. After consultations with legal experts, we will decide whether or not to approach the court again,” he explained.