Former Minister and senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao on Tuesday charged the Congress government with conspiring to sell government lands worth Rs 30,000 crore. He demanded that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy apologise for misleading the Assembly and the people of Telangana on the sale of these lands when questioned by the BRS.
In a statement, Harish Rao reminded that as TPCC chief, Revanth Reddy had opposed sale of government lands, terming them as Telangana’s wealth.
“But now as the Chief Minister, he is shamelessly putting them up for auction. None can match Revanth Reddy in flip-flops,” he remarked.
Highlighting the double standards of the Congress, the BRS legislator said Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy had assured the Assembly three months ago that no government land would be sold. Yet, he pointed out that tenders were issued on February 28 to appoint consultants for land auctions under a so-called master plan.
He alleged
that 400 acres of Kancha Gachibowli land, previously mortgaged to banks for Rs 10,000 crore, were now being put up for sale, aiming to raise another Rs 30,000 crore. “On one hand, the government mortgages land to banks, and on the other, it auctions the same land. This exposes the Congress’s bankruptcy in fiscal management,” he said.
Harish Rao slammed the Congress government for using former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s achievements and Telangana’s growth to market themselves and secretly sell public assets. He pointed out that the Request for Proposal (RFP) itself praises Telangana’s economic progress under the leadership of Chandrashekhar Rao, contradicting the Congress’s earlier claims of bankruptcy.
“During the Assembly session in December last year, the Congress misled the Assembly by denying land sales and transfer of lands to the Telangana Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation, only to conduct auctions later. This is the height of deception,” he charged.