Revanth Reddy Indulging In Massive Bribery In Tenders: KTR

BRS working president and former minister K T Rama Rao today alleged that Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was indulging in massive bribery after coming to power.

KTR released a press note on the AMRUT tenders. In it, he alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched in the name of the tenders for infrastructure projects.

"Within a month or two of coming to power, CM Revanth Reddy had called for tenders for various works in the municipal department, whose charge he holds. Tenders worth Rs 8,888 crore have been called for sewerage works for drinking water projects in 26 municipal towns," he said.

KTR said that the tendering process was completed on February 6 this year and that in these tenders the companies belonging to Reddy were introduced and the works handed over to them.

"For this reason, the government has not put up the information about the whole affair on any website. So far, not a single press release has been released from the government after the tendering process for the project worth thousands of crores of rupees has been completed. In which areas were the works called? Which companies got the tenders? The government has not given any information like the value of the tender works, to the public domain. However, Indian Hume Pipe, which won the tenders, is a listed company. They had to give information about the tenders they had received to SEBI. This led to the tender scam coming to light. According to the information provided by the company, it has bagged tenders worth Rs 1,137 crore," he said.

KTR said that it had been informed to the stock exchange that 80% of the work would go to a Shodha Infrastructure Pvt Ltd indirectly, as the project was actually awarded to a company which was a joint venture between Indian Hume Pipe Company and Shodha Infrastructure in which Shodha Construction had 80% and Indian Hume Pipe Company had only 20%.

"Shodha Infrastructure belongs to Soodhini Srujan Reddy, the brother-in-law of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. Shodha Infrastructure did not directly participate in the tenders as it did not have any qualifications. The Chief Minister put pressure on Indian Hume Pipe and got it to enter a JV with his company for this project. Shodha Infrastructure has just Rs 71 crore per annum in turnover, and a profit of only Rs 2 crore. How can it complete a project worth so many hundred crores of rupees?" he asked.

KTR said that it was also an offence under the Office Of Profit Act and the Prevention Of Corruption Act to abuse one's position in order to provide undue financial benefit to their family members. He warned Revanth Reddy that senior AICC leader Sonia Gandhi (as chairperson of the National Advisory Committee), former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan (in the Adarsh Housing Society scam) and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa (for handing over mining contracts to his family members) had lost their posts on similar charges.

"We will definitely take up the affairs of the Chief Minister and the AMRUT tender scam with the Central Vigilance Commission. Our allegation is that in the case of these AMRUT tenders worth about Rs 9,000 crore, Revanth Reddy's benami companies have taken sub-contracts with many companies for his family members. This is just one example of hundreds of crores of corruption that has taken place in this deal. If the government is sincere, it should reveal all the details of these tenders and cancel the tenders," he said.