Congress floor leader gets strong reply from Ministers for sweeping remarks

The Speaker cautioned Bhatti Vikramarka against deviating from the subject and said it was not appropriate on Vikramarka's part to speak for hours.

Hyderabad: Congress floor leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka literally got an earful from Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Ministers T Harish Rao, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Puvvada Ajay Kumar, for making sweeping remarks against the State government in the Assembly on Saturday.

The Speaker cautioned Bhatti Vikramarka against deviating from the subject and said it was not appropriate on Vikramarka’s part to speak for hours and advised him to confine himself to raise issues in a precise manner, as other members too should get an opportunity.

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Participating in the discussion on 13 subjects in the Assembly, Bhatti Vikramarka said the BRS government was taking credit for the construction of irrigation projects taken up by the previous Congress government. He alleged that the detailed project report of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation scheme was not submitted to the Central Water Commission till date. He said the State government has kept bills amounting to Rs 800 crore under MGNREGS pending.

Intervening, Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao said the Centre held back payment of more than Rs 800 crore under MGNREGS for nearly eight months objecting to construction of paddy drying platforms with Rs 150 crore. “Though we returned the amount, we are yet to receive to pending funds. The Congress MPs should raise the MGNREGS issue in the Parliament failing which the Centre will scrap it,” he said.

When Bhatti Vikramarka alleged that the State government was not allowing the Congress MLAs to visit Kaleshwaram project when some pump houses were submerged, Harish Rao took a dig and said the government was concerned about the Congress member’s health considering the slippery premises of the pump house. He declared that the Congress MLAs were welcome to visit the project site and get their doubts clarified. He also said the DPR of Palamuru-Rangareddy LIS was submitted to the Central Water Commission on September 19 last year.

The Congress government had just laid foundations for Nettempadu, Kalwakurthy and Bhima projects and claimed bills for constructing the pump houses. During the Congress, only 27,300 acres were cultivated under Nettapadu, Kalwakurthy and Bhima projects in erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. However, the BRS government spent Rs 3,663 crore to complete all three projects and was supplying water to 5.69 lakh acres, he added.