Revanth Reddy pushing real estate agenda with merger of 27 ULBs, says KTR

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of driving a “hidden real estate agenda” through the proposed merger of 27 ULBs with GHMC. He also criticised stalled works at Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and alleged dilution of BC reservations.

Warangal: Coming down heavily on the Congress government for pushing a hidden real estate agenda through the proposed merger of 27 urban local bodies with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), BRS working president, K. T. Rama Rao on Wednesday said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had emerged as the ‘Anaconda of Corruption’.

Instead of calling him Anumula Revanth Reddy, it would suit him more appropriately to be called Anaconda Revanth Reddy, symbolic of his mega corruption plans.

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Rama Rao visited the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP) and the industries that had come up as part of it, giving direct employment to over 30,000 people. Later speaking to the media, he said global giants like South Korea’s Youngone, Kitex Group and Ganesha Ecosphere had already started operations. But the work in the park was progressing at a tardy pace. The infrastructure of the park was yet to be fully utilised. Stating that certain works in the park were left pending, he urged the government to ensure full utilisation of the facilities.

He questioned the Congress government’s sudden move to merge 27 urban local bodies in and around the Outer Ring Road with the GHMC.

“Nobody knows on whose request this merger is being done. No resolution was passed by any of the 27 local bodies. No discussion was held with MLAs or elected representatives. There was not a single line debated in the Assembly. No all party meeting was called either to discuss the issue,” he said.

Calling it yet another move to suit the needs of a few in Revanth Reddy’s coterie, he alleged that the Hyderabad Industrial land transformation policy had already exposed the government.

The BRS will come out with its plan of action to fight the government on such ill advised policies. He demanded the government to withdraw the HILTP or else face the wrath of the people of the state.

Rama Rao reminded that it was former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who conceived the “Farm to Fashion, Farm to Fabric” model and laid the foundation for the 1,600-acre Kakatiya Mega Textile Park – one of the largest integrated textile parks in the country. Land was acquired with the cooperation of farmers after sustained efforts by then-MLA Dharma Reddy.

When BRS came to power in 2014, Telangana had virtually no textile policy. Chandrashekhar Rao created one from scratch and brought in big-ticket investments. “Today, flyovers and ROBs remain incomplete, drainage and sewerage works are moving at snail’s pace. The Congress government is showing zero interest in completing infra so that the park can be fully utilised. Telangana should have become India’s textile hub – that was Chandrashekhar Rao’s dream. while India’s apparel manufacturing share is just 4%, Sri Lanka has 8%, Bangladesh 7%, and China 34%, he said.

“We had the vision to overtake all of them. Revanth Reddy wants to convert those lands into malls,” Rama Rao alleged. He warned that any attempt to divert even an inch of Kakatiya Mega Textile Park land for real will be resisted by the people of Warangal. Then why this hurry? The answer is simple – to knock away 9,300 acres of precious government and municipal land worth nearly Rs 5 lakh crore and hand it over to the real estate coterie surrounding the Chief Minister,” he charged.

Criticising the broken promises of the Congress government, Rama Rao also hit out at the Congress for diluting BC reservations from the promised 42% to just 17% in local body elections. It had cheated BCs in the state despite Rahul Gandhi’s public claim that 42% reservations were implemented. “BCs have been betrayed. The people of Telangana will teach this government a lesson at the right time,” he asserted.

Recalling that Chandrashekhar Rao had increased Telangana’s districts from 10 to 33 and created new revenue divisions to take administration closer to people, he said adding, “We stand for decentralisation. This Congress government wants to centralise everything – power, resources and corruption – in the hands of one coterie.”