Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Mahesh Kumar Goud on Wednesday reiterated that the Congress was voted into power with a commitment to expose alleged corruption during the decade-long rule of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). This follows the issuance of summons by the PC Ghose Commission to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and other key figures in connection with irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).
Speaking to media, Goud said the public had entrusted the Congress with power to ensure transparency and justice regarding alleged financial mismanagement in one of the state’s largest infrastructure projects.
“People voted us (Congress) to power because we promised that the loot and corruption that happened in 10 years of BRS tenure would be exposed,” Goud stated.
He confirmed that the state’s Congress-led government had established an independent commission specifically to probe these alleged irregularities.
“Telangana government has thus constituted a commission to look into the irregularities of the Kaleshwaram project. The commission has KCR and others who are part of this loot. They should come and explain their version. People are demanding that all the corrupt people should be punished,” he added.
In response, BRS MLC K Kavitha criticized the move, alleging political vendetta. In a post on X, she claimed that the summons issued to KCR were part of a “calculated political conspiracy” aimed at maligning his legacy.
“The notices to KCR Garu over the Kaleshwaram project are part of a calculated political conspiracy to tarnish the image of a true people’s leader. Kaleshwaram was built for the welfare of farmers and future generations, not for politics. Today, this inefficient Congress government is undoing the very progress Telangana fought for,” Kavitha said.
She also defended her father’s legacy, asserting his transformative role in the development of Telangana.
“KCR Garu, who has devoted his life to Telangana, transforming barren lands into fields of prosperity, is now being targeted by a visionless regime. No vindictive Government can diminish his legacy. The truth will prevail, and history will remember who stood for the people and who tried to bring them down,” she added.
The PC Ghose Commission, which is investigating both financial and procedural lapses in the multi-crore KLIP, issued summons on Tuesday to KCR, former Minister Harish Rao, and BJP MP Etela Rajender, who all held ministerial positions during the BRS tenure.
Sources confirm that the commission has directed the political leaders to appear in the first week of June, with KCR scheduled for June 5, Harish Rao on June 6, and Etela Rajender on June 9.