Hit by desertions, Telangana opposition eyes common cause

HYDERABAD: Opposition parties in Telangana, most of which suffered the defections manoeuvre unleashed by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), are now preparing to unitedly fight by moving courts, regulators and lenders against alleged large corruption in government's flagship programmes.

Collating allegations on corruption in irrigation and drinking water projects levelled against the government by various lawmakers including those who subsequently switched loyalties to the ruling party, the opposition parties are set to appeal to the central agencies for a detailed probe.

They want to appeal to the Centre to advise the lenders, both public and private, to stop sanctioning and releasing the funds to the government projects in Telangana.

"Each of the Opposition political parties had earlier moved the courts, independently contesting the Telangana government's decisions on various issues. Going by the successful attempts by the government to weaken the Opposition through rampant defections, many political parties have realised the need to fight unitedly," says Sravan Dasoju, Telangana Congress' chief spokesperson.

Parleys between the Opposition parties are now at an early stage for a concerted fight against the ruling TRS, said Daso ju, adding "a proposal to meet the President of India seeking a detailed probe into corruption in Telangana projects is also being considered."

Admitting the advantages of a concerted fight against corruption in projects for gathering more facts, Nagam Janardhan Reddy, former minister, said, "I have been challenging the corrupt practices of Telangana government involving irrigation projects in the courts and am going to file review petitions on some of the cases soon. I am currently on the job of collecting more documentary evidences to prove my allegations that the eligibility norms and estimations were tuned by the Telangana government to benefit a set of contractors."

Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Lok Sabha member of Congress, had earlier written to the prime minister alleging a well-designed financial scam in Telangana government's flagship drinking water supply project `Mission Bhagiradha' and seeking CBI and CVC probes. Accusing the Telangana government of resorting to huge irregularities under the guise of public services to fetch benefits to vested interests, he said such practices were "causing enormous loss to public exchequer".

Interestingly, he has on Monday announced joining the ruling TRS government and retracted all his allegations on the government, claiming to have obtained satisfactory responses from the Telangana government on corruption issues he raised.