Revanth Reddy Reiterates "Bihar Batch" Allegations

Doubling down on his allegations that IAS and IPS officers from Bihar were running the state, Telangana Congress President and MP A Revanth Reddy today wrote an open letter to the Chief Minister of the state K Chandrashekar Rao expressing his objections over the postings of All India Services officers.

He said that one of the main aspirations behind statehood for the Telangana region was self-rule, and reminded the CM that self-rule was the buzzword during the statehood agitation that took place between 1960 and 2009.

He said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi, after recognizing the fervour behind the desire for self-rule, had created Telangana state in 2014.

However, he claimed that the state was still under the clutches of the rule of the "outsiders".

Reminding the CM about his statement in a TV interview in 2008 that his ancestors had come from Bihar, he told the CM that he (the CM) had clearly demonstrated that his allegiance still lay with Bihar by handing over the administration of the state to AIS officers of Bihar.

He claimed that the Bihar stamp was clearly seen on the administration of the state, and that there was no trace of the aspirations of the separate Telangana movement any more in the administration.

He asked the CM for the reasons behind his dependence on officials of the Bihar cadre despite the presence of 157 IAS and 139 IPS officers belonging to Telangana.

He also asked the CM how one should understand the decision of the CM to appoint officers from Bihar to the top posts of Chief Secretary (Somesh Kumar) and DGP (Anjani Kumar) of the state.

Speaking further, he reeled out more names of IAS officers belonging to Bihar - Rajat Kumar, Arvind Kumar, Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Jayesh Ranjan and Neetu Kumari Prasad.

Targeting Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Reddy told the CM that Kumar had been allotted to AP at the time of the bifurcation of the state, and that he (Kumar) was continuing in Telangana after securing a stay from the Central Administrative Tribunal.

He told the CM that the Department Of Personal and Training (DOPT) had challenged the stay order of the CAT in the High Court of the state, but that some mysterious power was preventing hearings on the case, and was intent on ensuring the continuation of Kumar till his last day in office next year.

He also said that Kumar was not legible for the post of Chief Secretary of the state. He alleged that Kumar had left the service in 1997-1999 and had worked for a private firm, and repeated the same during 2005-2008, and was thus eligible only for the post of Principal Secretary if the four years of recess were excluded from his service.

He also told the CM that the CS had committed contempt of court in 250 cases, and pointed out that the state government, instead of censuring and replacing him, had actually sanctioned Rs. 60 crore to him to bear the costs of the contempt cases, in a brazen waste of tax-payer money and display of favouritism.

Commenting on the irrigation department Principal Secretary Rajat Kumar, Reddy alleged that Kumar had removed the names of 30 lakh voters illegally from the voters' list before the GHMC elections, and that he had also ignored all the complaints on the issue.

Reddy added that Jayesh Ranjan and Arvind Kumar were also discharging crucial roles in the portfolios held by the CM's son.

Pointing out that the CM had appointed another Bihar IPS officer Anjani Kumar as the DGP of the state, he asked the CM for the reason behind the continuation of the officer of Bihar in such a crucial post for such a long period.

Reddy said that the people of the state had had enough now of Bihar rule, and would not tolerate the presence of the All India Officers from Bihar around KCR any more.