KCR Enacting 'Missing' Drama To Hide Failures: Congress

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy today expressed concern over conflicting and unconfirmed reports in the mainstream and social media regarding the health condition of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Reddy said that the Chief Minister has been missing in action for the last 11 days, and that that was a matter of serious concern.

He said that KCR had neither addressed a press conference nor held any review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan since June 29, and that there were unconfirmed and unverified reports that he was in quarantine at his farmhouse in Erravelli.

But no one really knew his whereabouts, Reddy said.

"We are also concerned about him and his health, and pray to God that he stays in good health," he said.

However, the Congress leader also expressed apprehension that the Chief Minister might be enacting a "missing drama" to gain the people's sympathy.

"It is a state or a kingdom? Are we in a democracy or an anarchy? While a king can go underground at his will, an elected Chief Minister in a democracy needs to remain among his people," he said, and added that the people were unable to understand KCR's actions as he was behaving like a Tughlaq.

"Why is such a drama needed? Are you trying to creating an inquisitiveness or a special interest in you? Do you think this particular kind of publicity stunt will boost your image?" he asked.

Reddy said that people would be seriously concerned if their Chief Minister was not among them for a long period, especially at a time when the entire population was engaged in a fierce battle against a deadly pandemic.

He said that while the poor people were not getting to medical care at the government hospitals, the middle and the upper middle class people were spending lakhs of rupees to pay medical bills in private hospitals. And despite undergoing traumatic experiences, most were still not getting proper treatments.

The Congress leader pointed out that neighbouring Andhra Pradesh had conducted more than 11 lakh Covid-19 tests while the Telangana government had tested a little over 1.25 lakh people so far. He asked why KCR was treating Telangana as his jagir (personal fiefdom) and avoid spending to test Covid-19 suspects.

Narayana also slammed the pace with which the old Secretariat building was demolished. "Why are you in a hurry? We're all facing a deadly pandemic spreading across the globe. There is a huge shortage of medical facilities and infrastructure. It is feared that the infection might affect lakhs of people across Telangana in the coming days. Why do you want to waste huge public money on something else in such a time instead of spending the same to save people's lives?" he asked, adding that the Chief Minister should have waited till the arrival of a Covid-19 vaccine to undertake the demolition.

He also said that KCR had not visited the Secretariat even six times in the last six years, and asked why then did he need a Secretariat in the first place.

He also pointed out that the complex had a built-up area of nearly 8 lakh sft, and that the D, H, J and L blocks were recently constructed and in extremely good condition. At least 4 lakh sft of the built-up space could have been easily converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital.

Despite all of this the CM chose to demolish the complex, he lamented, and alleged that the Chief Minister was constructing the new Secretariat complex only to get commissions as his sources of commissions from other projects had stopped now for a while.