Shabbir Ali Challenges KTR To Debate On KCR Wealth

Senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir today challenged BRS working president K T Rama Rao to a debate on the increase in the KCR family's assets over the past 14 years.

Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan, Shabbir ridiculed KTR's claims of honesty, and demanded an explanation for the exponential rise in his family's wealth.

He said that KTR's assets grew from Rs 4.32 crore in 2009 to Rs 53.32 crore in 2023. Similarly, Harish Rao's assets had increased from Rs 67.57 lakh in 2009 to Rs 24.29 crore in 2023, former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's assets jumped from Rs 86 lakh in 2004 to Rs 58.93 crore in 2023, and K Kavitha's assets surged from Rs 6.19 crore in 2014 to Rs 39.79 crore in 2023. The KCR family's wealth had clearly multiplied significantly during the BRS regime, he said.

The Congress leader asked whether the family had legitimate business ventures or investments to justify such financial growth, and challenged KTR to provide a detailed account of his family's wealth in an open debate.

Shabbir Ali accused KTR of making baseless allegations against the Congress government to divert attention from corruption charges facing the BRS government and the KCR family. He cited high-profile corruption cases against the family, including a judicial probe into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, allegations of phone tapping, and an FIR in the Formula E Race case. He also spoke about the SIT probe ordered by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy into irregularities concerning the lease of the ORR to a private company for 30 years.

He also said that KTR had made a U-turn in the Formula E race case. KTR had initially defended the allocation of funds as the relevant minister, but in his affidavit to the High Court later shifted the blame on to officials, claiming it was their duty to secure the necessary approvals before transferring the funds, Shabbir Ali said. He said that such attempts to conceal corruption would ultimately fail.

He urged KTR to accept the challenge of an open debate, saying that until transparency was achieved the latter's claims of integrity would remain unconvincing.

Shabbir Ali also said that the Congress government was addressing the misuse of taxpayers' money by ensuring that Rythu Bharosa funds were allocated only to farmers with cultivated lands.