Telangana Congress demands release of welfare scheme funds before Nov 2
Reddy, along with several party members, approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) and demanded that the cash benefits should be transferred immediately before November as chief sinister K Chandrashekhar Rao may try to delay the release of the money
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy has demanded that all the money to be given to the beneficiaries under various government welfare schemes, including the Rythu Bandhu, be released by November 2, before election notifications are issued. Telangana will go to polls on November 30.
Reddy, along with several party members, approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) and demanded that the cash benefits should be transferred immediately before November as chief sinister K Chandrashekhar Rao may try to delay the release of the money.
Present at the party briefing were AICC in charge of Telangana Manikrao Thakre, TPCC chief Revanth Reddy, Lok Sabha MP Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
The members want the cash benefits to be issued by November 2, 2023, since the State Assembly Elections 2023 will be held on November 30, he said.
Addressing the reporters in Delhi on Thursday morning, Reddy said, “Yesterday, a petition was given to the Central Election Officer on behalf of the Congress party, in which the election officials concerned with welfare schemes were named. It has been clearly stated that the entire money transfer program must be completed within two or three days before the notification.”
On the issue of alleged ‘misuse’ of official places such as the chief minister’s residence and MLAs’ camp offices for political activities, Reddy said, “These places, built at the cost of the public exchequer, are being used for political activity. Since the moral code of conduct has come into place, we have represented to the ECI that these office buildings, official bungalows, not be used for BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) party and political activities.”
Alleging that the top officers– the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) and Indian Police Services (IPS) officers working against the Congress party in the state, Reddy said that such officers work as a ‘private army’ to the BRS government, adding that they have also raised the issue and have filed several complaints in this regard.
The TPCC chief further requested the ECI to remove retired officials from service.
“The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and BRS are misusing government institutions to defeat Congress in Telangana elections. Some officers have been at the same place for many years, working to provide election funds to BRS. By giving regular posting to retired officers, they are being made to work like a ‘private army’ to harass the opposition party,” he said.
Lok Sabha MP Uttam Reddy said that the issue was raised before the Election Commission. The Congress has also urged the ECI to appoint IAS and IPS officers as SPs and collectors in all districts and provided them with specific officer names who appear to prioritise party agendas over government responsibilities, Uttam Reddy said.
Revanth Reddy also spoke about the Medigadda barrage and the Kaleshwaram project and questioned the chief minister’s silence over it.
“The failure of the BRS government in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project exemplified the Medigadda issue. This shows that the government failed to conduct proper soil tests and technical adherence before its construction,” he said.
He alleged that the chief minister was trying to escape responsibility and said that if ordered, he is ready to contest the November 30 Assembly polls against CM Rao from the Kamareddy constituency.