Congress Demands Probe Into Mission Bhagiratha

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) staged a walk-out when the TRS government refused to appoint a House Committee to probe the alleged irregularities in the Mission Bhagiratha project.

Not satisfied with IT & Municipal Administration minister K T Rama Rao's reply on the demands, Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy threw a challenge at the government saying that he was ready to resign if he failed to prove the allegations made against Mission Bhagiratha.

"I will tender my resignation in case I fail to prove my allegations on Mission Bhagiratha. I will not contest elections again. Four Andhra contractors formed a ring and looted Rs 10,000 crores," he alleged.

Reacting to it, KTR said that the state government was acting transparently, and would not be afraid of Komatireddy Venkat Reddy or anyone approaching State Vigilance Committee (SVC).

"The TRS government is ready to provide water and also make the Opposition party drink it. We think from the people's perspective," he said, and alleged that Komatireddy was interested more in the contracts and sub-contracts instead of in water being provided to the people, and that the previous government had failed to provide water even to the fluoride-affected villages in Nalgonda district.

He said that the TRS government was doing wonders in a state that the Congress had miserably failed to do anything for in the last 60 years, and that the entire country was admiring Telangana developing rapidly in the past three years.

Reacting angrily, Komatireddy said that the entire country was in fact discussing the huge corruption in the state, that was happening at a scale that had never taken place anywhere the country. He reiterated his demand asking the state government to appoint a House Committee and prove its sincerity if it was really acting transparently in Mission Bhagiratha.

He also rebutted KTR's allegations saying that during 2004-2014, he had made the ruling Congress government supply drinking water to 700 villages in Nalgonda district in which many were suffering from problems being caused by fluoride.

Intervening in the discussion, CLP leader K Jana Reddy said that the demand for a probe was not only Komatireddy's, but that of the entire Congress party.

Ruling out the appointment of any House Committee to probe the alleged irregularities in Mission Bhagiratha, KTR said that the Congress leaders were mentally disturbed. He asked them to shed their tensions and remain peaceful. He also said that there was no need for appointing a House Committee as Komatireddy Venkat Reddy had anyway approached the SVC.

The CLP leader insisted that the TRS government prove its sincerity if it had done no wrong. He said that his party was staging a walkout as the state government was not accepting their demand for a House Committee.

After Congress' walkout, Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao alleged that the party had staged the walkout out of jealousy at the monumental development taking place in the state under the TRS government. The Congress was indulging in mud-slinging by making baseless allegations against the government, he claimed.

He asserted that TRS would complete Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya under any circumstances.