An official inquiry turned into a show of strength for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) as its chief and former Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) appeared before a one-man commission in Hyderabad. The Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose commission will look into the alleged irregularities in the construction and financial aspects of the Kaleshwaram project, touted as the largest lift-irrigation project built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore. The commission was formed after damage to piers was noticed in one of the barrages of the project in 2023, which turned into an election issue between the Congress and the BRS, with the former raising questions regarding its quality.
A flurry of activity was witnessed in the BRS camp right from morning. On Wednesday, his daughter and MLC, K. Kavitha and senior leaders of the party met KCR at his farmhouse on the outskirts of Hyderabad. After that, KCR started in a massive convoy to BRK Bhavan, which is located in the heart of the city. Outside the premises, a large number of BRS supporters gathered with banners and flags, turning the event into a political spectacle.
Hundreds of policemen were stationed outside the government building to prevent any untoward incidents. The party leaders spoke to the media and gave statements implying that forcing KCR to appear before the commission meant harassing him and defaming the party. KCR was accompanied by party leaders S. Madhusudhana Chary, leader of the opposition in the council and MLAs Harish Rao, Prashanth Reddy, ex-IPS officer R.S. Praveen Kumar and MP Ravichandra.
KCR faced the one-man commission and faced questions for about an hour. The Justice PC Ghose Commission has already examined dozens of officials involved in the project, including engineers and bureaucrats. A few days back, the commission also examined KCR’s nephew and former irrigation minister, Harish Rao, and former finance minister and now BJP MP, Etala Rajender. The term of the commission has extended multiple times in the last one year. The commission which has gone through all the documents related to the project in detail is expected to submit the report to the government in the coming few weeks.
