Revanth Reddy slams Rama Rao and Harish Rao for claiming that the BRS government created assets worth Rs 50 lakh crore in 10 years

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday said the Praja Vani grievance redressal programme of the Congress proved successful "as it made former minister K.T. Rama Rao give up Rs 1 lakh of Rs 1 lakh crore public money he had looted in the past nine years".

Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat, Revanth Reddy ramped up his attack on the BRS, saying "Rama Rao is still left with ill-gotten wealth of Rs 99,999 crore, which the Congress will make sure he returns to the people."

He was referring to Rama Rao’s donation of Rs 1 lakh to a woman from Yellandu town in Bhadradri Kothagudem, who sought aid for her daughter’s education by claiming that she was denied from approaching the Chief Minister at the Praja Vani programme.

"This incident proved that our Praja Vani was successful. She came to Hyderabad to air her grievance because of Praja Vani. She could approach KTR because of Praja Vani and got Rs 1 lakh from him," the Chief Minister said.

He also came down hard on K. Chandrashekar Rao and T. Harish Rao for what he called "blatant misuse" of public money, citing the purchase of 22 land cruiser vehicles at Rs 3 crore each for a new convoy "in a secretive manner" in the hope of retaining their seats. He said the vehicles, purchased secretly, were sent to Vijayawada to make them bulletproof and install jammers.

"After I assumed charge as CM on December 7, I told officials not to



buy new vehicles for me as it would be waste of public money. I asked officials to repair old vehicles. Officials then informed me that last time, we (the state government) bought 22 land cruiser vehicles. They were all in Vijayawada and the then government wanted to bring them after the swearing in," Revanth Reddy said.

The Chief Minister, expressing shock at the news, said: "Each vehicle costs Rs 3 crore because they are bulletproof vehicles. This is how KCR has created wealth for the state."

Revanth Reddy also slammed Rama Rao and Harish Rao for claiming that the BRS government created assets worth Rs 50 lakh crore in 10 years. Revanth said the BRS demolished existing buildings and constructed new ones in their place, like the Secretariat and Pragathi Bhavan, for their convenience by burdening taxpayers.

"The old secretariat served the needs of combined Andhra Pradesh and had 12 lakh sq. ft of built-up area. Few blocks were constructed by L&T only in 2012, but KCR demolished all of them and built a new Secretariat. He could have used the old secretariat building for a hospital, hostel or government offices running on rented premises. 

He could have built the Secretariat at another location. This could have saved one old asset and created a new asset. Similarly, he demolished IAS quarters in Begumpet to build Pragathi Bhavan," he said.