Kavitha stages protest against notice to KCR in Kaleshwaram issue

Hindustan Times

a day ago

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) member of the legislative council (MLC) Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Wednesday called the notice summons issued to her father and party president K Chandrasekhar Rao in connection with Kaleshwaram irrigation project as 'politically motivated'
Addressing a protest organised in Hyderabad by Telangana Jagruti against the commission's notice to KCR, Kavitha accused the Congress government of seeking to 'erase' KCR's legacy as farmers love him for his pro-farmer initiatives.
'Totally, 40 lakh (4 million) acres will get water once the Kaleshwaram project is completed. All that is kept aside. The conspiracy is to tarnish the image of KCR,' she said.
Justice PC Ghose commission has issued summon for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) on Godavari river.
During the protest at Hyderabad's Indira Park, no BRS leaders were part of the protest event and party flags were conspicuously absent. The party has been avoiding Kavitha's programmes ever since she took up the 'Samajika Telangana' (Telangana for social justice) cause on May 1.
On May 2, she wrote a letter to her father raising several critical issues, such as allegations of a proposed merger with the Bharatiya Janata party and asserted that she would resist any such move.
'Wednesday's dharna opposing summons to KCR on the Kaleshwaram project issue is obviously an attempt to create a narrative that she is the true political heir of her father and expose the other party leaders, including her brother KT Rama Rao, who did not take up any protests even if the state government is targeting KCR,' said political analyst Syed Zakir.
Meanwhile, Kavitha said that the Congress government had constituted the judicial commission headed by Justice Ghose only to politically target KCR. 'It is not the Kaleshwaram Commission, but a Congress Commission as the inquiry is not about accountability, but about political defamation,' she said.
The Telangana Jagruthi president said issuing notices to KCR, who was instrumental in achieving Telangana's statehood, amounted to issuing notices to the entire population of the state.
Kavitha claimed that the KLIP was a transformative effort that brought water to millions of acres across the state. 'The project is not confined to just three barrages, but comprises 21 pump houses, 15 reservoirs, 200 km of tunnels, and 1,500 km of canal network,' she asserted.
The Telangana Congress refuted the allegations levelled by Kavitha on the Kaleshwaram commission issuing summons to KCR for questioning. 'The BRS leader is resorting to high drama only for her political survival,' senior Congress leader and state BC welfare minister Ponnam Prabhakar said.
He said that the Ghosh commission has the authority to summon anyone for inquiry. 'It's up to the commission to decide whom to summon. We are not opposing the construction of projects for providing water for irrigation. But the BRS leaders looted Telangana's wealth in the name of Kaleshwaram project,' he alleged.
With inputs from PTI