Midnight ambush by ‘friend’ Akbaruddin leaves Revanth Reddy shaken

AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi challenged the Congress government in the Assembly, scrutinising the PC Ghose Commission report on the Kaleshwaram project. He questioned project irregularities, government contradictions, and report leakages, leaving CM Revanth Reddy struggling to respond during late-night proceedings.

Hyderabad: The Congress had its Assembly session strategy set for Sunday — table the Justice PC Ghose Commission report, pin the blame on the BRS, K Chandrashekhar Rao and T Harish Rao, and push the BRS into a corner. The plan, however, went off script. If Harish Rao’s counterattack stole the spotlight, what followed after the BRS walked out was completely unexpected.

Akbaruddin Owaisi, AIMIM floor leader and in political terms considered a ‘friendly party’ to the Congress, chose a different course. His midnight intervention, which dragged proceedings beyond 1 am, caught Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy unprepared. Owaisi’s pointed arguments left the Chief Minister fumbling for answers, and at one stage, even pleading with him to accept his point.

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From addressing him as “Owaisi Saheb” to “Akbar Saab”, “Akbar Bhai”, “mere bhai” and finally “mere dost”, Revanth Reddy’s tone kept fluctuating from friendly to aggressive and from assertive to pleading as he struggled to get the AIMIM leader to agree, or at least settle for disagreement.

Owaisi, meanwhile, was relentless, dissecting the Ghose Commission report page by page and sentence by sentence, much like Harish Rao had earlier. He began by demanding clarity from the government on whether the Kaleshwaram project would be abandoned, demolished or repaired. He questioned why the Commission had “failed” to name contractors or assign responsibility.

“Why are senior officials, who were involved in the execution of the project, not mentioned in the report?” he asked, noting that while the Commission flagged irregularities and questionable decisions by the previous government, it stopped short of recommending punishment.

“What purpose does the report serve if it does not say what action should follow?” he asked.

He further criticised the report for not referring to the Vigilance and Enforcement report, the CAG report and the NDSA report. The Commission itself, he reminded, had admitted the government did not issue Terms of Reference for the inquiry.

Owaisi also targeted the government for leaking the report to select media organisations before it was tabled in the House. “What is the sanctity of the House and Legislators?” he asked.

The exchanges grew heated, forcing Revanth Reddy to respond with a sharp retort: “I know how to run the House and I will make decisions. You can give suggestions or refrain, we don’t mind.”

Earlier, the AIMIM leader had exposed contradictions in the Congress government’s own statements. He pointed out that Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, while speaking in the House, claimed not a single acre was irrigated through the Kaleshwaram project. Yet, in the CAD Demands presented earlier, the Minister himself had stated that over 19 lakh acres of ayacut was stabilised by it.

“Now, whom should I believe? Should I consider the Minister’s statements in the House or the facts in the CAD Demands book?” he asked.

He also highlighted contradictions in Congress claims that the Kaleshwaram project had collapsed. While Ministers described it as washed away, Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu said water from the Godavari would be diverted to the Musi under a rejuvenation project.

“If Kaleshwaram is a failed project, how will the government get Godavari water to Musi?” he asked, reminding that nearly 20 months had passed since some piers of Medigadda barrage sank. “Why has the government not taken up repairs? If the barrage was washed away as claimed, how is it withstanding inflows of 10 lakh cusecs?”

Owaisi concluded by pointing out that if the Congress, which launched the Pranahita-Chevella project in 2007, had completed the works before 2014, the BRS government would not have had to take up Kaleshwaram.