Revanth Reddy blames KCR, Harish Rao for Kaleshwaram corruption and cost inflation

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday accused former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and BRS MLA T Harish Rao of deliberately distorting facts, escalating project costs, and covering up corruption in the Kaleshwaram project. He said the Justice P.C. Ghose Commission report had exposed the full scale of mismanagement and financial irregularities under the previous BRS regime.

Speaking in the Assembly during the debate on the commission report, Revanth Reddy said Harish Rao was misleading the public with half-truths and politically motivated narratives. “Even after the Centre and the Congress government confirmed water availability in 2009 and 2014, Harish Rao still wrote another letter to reopen the issue,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that despite expert clearance, the project was shifted from Tummidihatti to Medigadda to benefit certain vested interests. “The Maharashtra government never opposed Tummidihatti. They only suggested a reduction in height,” he said.

Revanth Reddy: Kaleshwaram changes meant to amass wealth

Revanth Reddy alleged that KCR redesigned the project with the intention of becoming “richer than the Nizam.” He said the BRS government suppressed a report by retired engineers that raised concerns about the Medigadda site. The same risks warned at Tummidihatti were repeated at Medigadda but ignored.

He pointed out that the Ghose Commission’s page 72 explicitly warned of structural danger at Medigadda, while page 63 revealed the financial misappropriation and page 98 held Harish Rao accountable. “If irrigation expert Vidyasagar Rao were alive, he would have jumped into the Godavari in despair over these lies,” he said.

The CM accused the BRS of shifting names and locations solely for the purpose of looting public money. He said it was Harish Rao’s own admission on page 65 of the report that his uncle and brother-in-law misused the project.

CM asks BRS to name agency for probe, seeks record expungement

Revanth Reddy demanded to know if the BRS leaders were ready for a CBI or CID probe into the Kaleshwaram affair. “You claim the report is trash — then name the agency you want to investigate this,” he said.

He also asked the Speaker to expunge Harish Rao’s remarks from Assembly records. “They are attacking the Ghose Commission only because it has exposed them,” he said.

Revanth said BRS leaders were running from the debate because they could not answer the core allegations. “They did not just mislead the House. They looted the exchequer, suppressed expert warnings, and now they are attacking the commission to distract the public,” he said.