[1]The Telugu Desam and Telangana Rashtra Samiti are at loggerheads again over the controversial Polavaram dam project. TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu has demanded that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy place all files pertaining to tenders and the project before the Speaker for perusal by Assembly Floor leaders.
TRS Floor leader Etala Rajender, however, wants all the tenders and the project scrapped, and a probe to be instituted by a sitting judge Two ministers, Danam Nagender and M. Mukesh, have also objected to the selection of Soma Constructions as the contractor for the Rs 4,600 crore project and have questioned the cost escalation. “The government should ensure transparency and remove doubts raised by parties in the Polavaram project. Three months back, the tenders were given to ineligible people and subsequent delay cost the exchequer Rs 600 crore,” Mr Naidu claimed.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, he said the project which was to be completed in 2007, has been repeatedly delayed due to an incompetent government and selfish motives of some ruling party leaders who see it as a source of income rather than as fulfilling the needs of people, especially farmers. TRS leader Etala Rajender has lashed out at both the Congress government and the TD for levelling baseless allegations against his party chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao when the earlier tenders were finalised.
Mr Rajender questioned the cost escalation and alleged that the Congress and the TD were trying to share the booty and the increase in the cost of the project was part of the game. “We want immediate cancellation of tenders, scrapping of the project and probe by a sitting judge,” he demanded. He also alleged TD MP C. M. Ramesh had stakes in the company and would get works worth Rs 1,000 crore. “Why was the project cost hiked in a matter of a few months? There is clearly a diabolic game to corner works and share the booty by the Congress and the TD,” he alleged.
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