Stop wasting public money: Shabbir Ali to KCR

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee Vice-President Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of resorting to criminal wastage of public money.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday, Shabbir Ali alleged that Kcr is acting like a monarch not only with his attitude, but also with lavish spending. He has wasted crores of rupees on various accounts since he took over as the Chief Minister. Citing instances, he said that the Chief Minister had spent Rs 27.93 crore to purchase 70 new vehicles and changed his entire convoy. "Do you need so much of security with four bullet proof cars?" he asked Kcr. Crores of rupees were spent in the name of renovation and repair of his camp office and Chief Minister's office at the State Secretariat. An amount of Rs 9.8 lakh was spent only to widen a small stretch of road in the State Secretariat to facilitate easy movement of Chief Minister's car. After spending over Rs 1crore, Kcr disliked the entire Secretariat citing "Vaasthu Dosham" and decided to shift the same to Erragadda, he said.

"Telangana is not a kingdom. This is one of the 29 States in our country and what you are wasting is public money," said Shabbir Ali.

He also criticised Kcr's stay in a star hotel during his last visit to Delhi. He said while all 16 CMs of undivided AP stayed in AP Bhavan, Kcr stayed in the Presidential Suite of Ashoka Hotel by paying a daily rent of Rs 1.5 lakh Plus taxes.

Shabbir Ali said Telangana has been turning into a suicide capital with at least three persons killing self due to financial problems.  Referring an instance, he said a 14-year-old orphan girl Anitha of Ramarao Nagar in Borabanda in city committed suicide three days ago as she was unable to go to school for the last three months due non-payment of school fee. He said there has been a rise in the number of suicides by unemployed youth, farmers and other economically weaker sections. Instead of addressing their problems, Kcr is resorting to criminal wastage of money. He said Kcr's ministers, legislators and even their family members are emulating Kcr. The ministers and even Nizamabad MP K Kavitha are moving in large convoys during their tour to their constituencies.

The Congress leader said while the educational institutions, especially the universities, are facing shortage of staff and funds, Kcr is wasting money by appointing Advisors. He said so far, at least 10 retired officials have been appointed as Advisors to Government. Similarly, six Parliamentary Secretaries have been nominated by the government. All of them have been given cabinet rank, but none of them have been told about their duties. Describing them as "Kcr Bhajan Mandali", he alleged that several crores are being wasted only on Advisors, Parliamentary Secretaries and other Advisory Committees.

He asked Kcr to do a serious introspection of his decision and take immediate measures to help the poor and needy.

Shabbir Ali also accused Kcr of again taking a U-turn on the issue of "settlers". He said Kcr had sent an invitation to the media houses asking them to send their representatives "related to Telangana" for a discussion. Describing Kcr's invitation as racists and discriminatory, he said journalists could not be divided on regional lines or linked to any particular State. Asking scribes not to fall in Kcr's 'mayajaal', he said that the Chief Minister has made speaking lies as his religion. While trying to appease people, he shunned the words 'settlers' and changed his stand within 24 hours, he alleged.