HYDERABAD: TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy and Congress Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy alleged on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was protecting Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao in relation to various scams in Telangana, and that the TRS president was funding the election campaigns of the BJP in other states.
“There is no response from the Centre to the Congress’ complaints of high-level irregularities in the TRS government,” they said on Tuesday and said the alleged tie-up was the reason for this.
The Congress MPs alleged that the TRS government was conspiring to loot the state-owned Singereni Collieries Corporation Limited (SCCL) of Rs 50,000 crore by privatising the Naini coal mines in Odisha. They demanded that the Centre order a CBI inquiry into this deal.
The TRS government, they said, was planning to allot the mining rights of the coal mines to the chief Minister’s close aide Srinivasa Rao, who owns the Prathima group, after ensuring its allotment to the Adani group.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, Revanth Reddy and Venkat Reddy said they had lodged several written complaints with Modi, Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi and the Central Vigilance Commission but there was no response.
Citing rules, they said the authorities should follow the joint venture and consortium rules while allotting coal mines to private entities. Compliance to the rules would increase competition among various bidders and ensure income to the government.
Targeting the SCCL chairman and managing director N. Sridhar, Congress MPs alleged that the Chief Minister was continuing the official in the post even after his completion of seven years of service and in violation of the rules. The Centre had neither asked the state government to cancel the tenders though it possessed a 49 per cent stake in the company nor sought the removal of Sridhar from the post.
Stating that the technical bid and price bid of the coal mine have been completed, they said a bid for Rs 1,093 per metric tonne of coal was filed in the Naini mine while a bid for just Rs 490 was filed in the neighboring Subhadra coal mine.
“What remains now is only a formality to announce the name of Adani as the successful bidder of the coal mine.”
Referring to the oft-repeated statements of BJP leaders like Bandi Sanjay that the CM and his family would go to jail for their allegedly corrupt deals, the Congress leaders asked why the Centre and the BJP leaders were not doing anything to ensure this even after details of the Naini coal mine scam was before them.
Congress MPs alleged that the TRS and the BJP had joined hands to siphon off illegal money in the name of the privatisation of the Naini coal. They alleged that the CM was funding the election campaigns of the BJP in other states.
Meanwhile, MP Venkat Reddy denied that he was quitting the Congress, after pictures of him meeting the Prime Minister and Union ministers were published in the media. He said he would remain in the Congress till his last breath.
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