HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao alleged that the Congress government’s Musi River rejuvenation project was leading to large-scale displacement of poor and middle-class families, and accused the BJP of supporting the exercise.

Addressing a party workers’ meeting in Rajendranagar constituency on Sunday, KTR claimed that the Congress and the BJP were acting in tandem on the Musi project. He reminded that even Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi, had opposed the demolition of houses in the name of the Musi rejuvenation initiative.

Criticising Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy over his proposal to install a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, KTR alleged that the Chief Minister was invoking Gandhi’s ideals while pursuing policies that resulted in the demolition of houses.

KTR asked why the Centre was not intervening to prevent the ‘injustice and land acquisition’ affecting poor families. He alleged that while local BJP leaders were publicly opposing the project, the party’s leadership at the Centre was facilitating it by granting necessary clearances naming Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and BJP MP Eatala Rajender in this regard.

Alleging widespread irregularities, KTR described Telangana as being run like a “mafia State” and accused Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and other Congress leaders of encouraging land grabbing and intimidation. He alleged that around 180 acres of government ceiling land in the Rajendranagar constituency had been transferred to private entities during the Congress regime. KTR also criticised the government’s proposed Future City initiative.