Hyderabad: Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy on Monday accused BJP and BRS of acting in tandem, alleging the two parties are part of a “match-fixing deal” scripted at the national level, with one writing the lines and the other delivering them.
Inspecting retaining wall construction works in flood-prone Munnuru overflow zones, Ponguleti launched a scathing attack on opposition parties. He said past governments had projected Telangana as a wealthy state, but after Congress came to power, the real financial mess was exposed.
“There wasn’t even food on the plate, yet they smeared perfume on their moustaches and fooled the public,” he said, taking a direct swipe at the BRS.
Ponguleti revealed that Telangana has a staggering ₹8.19 lakh crore debt left behind by the previous BRS regime—a figure Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka had presented in the Assembly. “It’s like cancer—if you hide it, it only spreads. We chose to admit the disease and are trying to heal the state like a responsible head of the family,” he said.
Blasting opposition leaders for their daily attacks on the Congress government, Ponguleti hit back at BRS claims that Congress was taking credit for Sitarama project works. “If you finished 90%, how is 40% still left? You didn’t even finish the drainage, yet you talk of installing motors? Ridiculous,” he said.
“BRS leaders think they alone did everything. Next, they might say they discovered air and water,” he quipped. “Criticise us, fine but at least make it credible.”
He accused the opposition of deliberately sabotaging the Congress government’s image and said some leaders were inciting farmers behind the scenes. “Officials have all the details. These backdoor conspirators have already been exposed by the people. Time to behave,” he warned.
On rehabilitation efforts, Ponguleti said thousands of families in Munnuru overflow zones were affected by last year’s unseasonal rains. CM Revanth Reddy and other ministers personally met the affected, sped up the retaining wall works, and ensured no further damage would occur.
He assured poor families who had built homes in low-lying areas that they would not be left out. “The retaining wall will offer them security. We’ll provide space in the Riverfront Colony. No one will be displaced unjustly,” he said.
The government plans to build housing over 450 to 500 acres and include Munnuru evacuees in that project. Ponguleti also said both sides of the retaining wall would be developed with proper drainage. He urged landowners in the overflow belt to cooperate with the government, claiming only the Congress was working with genuine intent to protect the poor.
