KCR Jail Threat Undemocratic: Telangana Congress

Telangana Congress Legislature Party leader K Jana Reddy said that the threats and warnings allegedly issued by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao against Congress leaders for protesting against the Telangana-Maharashtra Godavari pact were undemocratic and tyrannical.

Speaking to the media at the Assembly media hall on Friday, he opined, "If someone has to go to jail for malpractice and corruption, it is KCR."

Reddy alleged that the CM was targeting the critic instead of the criticism.

"The Supreme Court has censured Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha for making intolerant remarks and for filing false cases against the TN Opposition leaders for showing dissent. The same is applicable to KCR," he pointed out.

He added that in a democracy the people had the right and the responsibility to question the ruling Party. The Chief Minister's warning reflected his arrogance, and was unbecoming of a leader in a democratic framework.

If the government wanted to do something about the criticism, it should start by disproving the allegations of corruption levelled against it on the irrigation projects by calling for transparent tenders and revealing the exact cost estimates and technicalities of all projects and their redesigning, he said.

He emphasized the need for dialogue, and discouraged the use of threats and "muscle power".

Reddy also fumed at KCR's alleged mockery of the Congress and its leaders over their role in the development of the State, and reminded the CM of his Party's role in liberating Telangana from united Andhra Pradesh. He claimed that it was due to the efforts of the Congress that the bifurcation was accepted and the subsequent development of the State initiated.

Expressing concerns over the Godavari accord with Maharashtra, Reddy said that it might turn out to be a "historic failure" as it would solve Maharastra's water woes but not those of Telangana.

He said that the Congress had earlier asked the CM to take an all-Party delegation to convince Fadnavis, and then also Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to raise the height of the Pranahitha-Chevella project at Thummidihatti. But the Opposition wasn't take into consideration, he lamented.

He also spoke on the financial drawbacks of the Kaleshwaram project. "The Medigadda project at Kaleshwaram will cost an additional Rs. 50,000-60,000 crores. The power consumption for the project alone will cost around Rs. 8,000 crores annually," he claimed.

The government hid the fact that 15,000 acres per 1 TMC of water would be irrigated using drip irrigation and sprinklers system in Medigadda, he alleged. "Drip irrigation is possible only with additional pipelines, which are not being made available in Medigadda. Who will bear the additional expenditure if it is not covered in the tax policies? Where will all the surplus money come from?" he asked.