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Hyderabad, June 9 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Monday accused the BJP and Congress of jointly conspiring to malign BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao by distorting facts about the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.

He alleged that both BJP and Congress are working with a single objective to irritate KCR. He stated that their agenda is not governance but vendetta.

Rama Rao clarified that the Kaleshwaram project was not the decision of an individual, but a unanimous policy decision taken by the Telangana Cabinet at the time.

“Even former ministers like Etela Rajender and Harish Rao have reiterated that this was a government-approved, cabinet-sanctioned project. The implementation was carried out by the administration, not individuals. There is absolutely nothing to hide. Everything was done with utmost transparency,” he said in a statement, hours after BRS leader and former minister Harish Rao appeared before PC Ghose Commission, which is probing alleged irregularities in the project.

KTR urged people to watch the detailed presentation made by Harish Rao, saying they would understand the project’s depth and benefits.

“If a leader in another country had completed a project of this scale bringing irrigation to 45 lakh acres in just four years they would have been immortalized in their national history. That leader would have been celebrated with global honours. Sadly, in our country, such a historic project has become a tool for political mudslinging,” he said.

KTR denounced the issuance of notices by investigation bodies as politically motivated harassment. “These notices are simply attempts to irritate and distract us. We have already stated everything that needs to be said. Today, Harish Rao presented all the facts before the commission in full detail. Commission has nothing new to ask for KCR garu — everything that needed to be said has already been said,” KTR declared.

The BRS chief is scheduled to appear before the Commission on June 11.

Drawing comparisons, KTR noted that while Congress governments took decades to construct major projects like Bhakra Nangal, Nagarjuna Sagar, Narmada, and SRSP, KCR completed Kaleshwaram in record time.

Criticising the Congress regime under Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, KTR said that they came to power by making 420 fake promises, only to betray the public. “This government is leading the state down a dangerous, destructive path,” he added.

--IANS

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