Telangana Congress leader asks poll body to ban KCR's party till 2036. Here's why

Telangana Congress leader asks poll body to ban KCR’s party till 2036. Here’s why

Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Hanumantha Rao on Tuesday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking disqualification of the K Chandrashekar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from contesting any elections in Telangana till 2036.

In his letter, Hanumantha Rao urged the poll body to impose a ban on BRS from contesting elections until the repayment of debts related to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KILS) was completed, or at least until 2035-36.

Rao referred to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) that exposed alleged corruption by the previous BRS government of Telangana in the KILS project.

The report, presented in the Telangana Assembly last week, led to widespread criticism of the BRS, with the ruling Congress branding it as one of the most corrupt governments in the history of independent India.

“I strongly feel that the Election Commission must have the power to deregister a political party that is involved in corruption. This will send strong signals to other parties in the future not to misuse public funds. I request you to bar BRS from contesting in any election till the debts are recollected or at least till 2035-36,” the letter by Hanumantha Rao read.

“CAG report clearly stated that the BRS government borrowed Rs 1,41,544 crores through various institutions and the total repayment debt stands at Rs 2,52,048 crores,” the letter added.

The Congress leader also claimed that the move by the then BRS government had added extreme financial burden to the Telangana exchequer.Â

Last week, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took a dig at his predecessor and said that the BRS should have joined the government-organised visit to the Medigadda barrage if it was concerned about the farmers.

Medigadda barrage is a part of the mega Kaleshwaram project.

Reddy slammed K Chandrashekar Rao, saying the former Chief Minister was unable to face the people after the Rs 94,000 crore spent on Kaleshwaram “went waste” as the barrage cannot be filled with water due to the damage it sustained.