HYDERABAD
Sticking to his allegations on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) lease to IRB Infra, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy claimed to have the documents of the agreement and said as per the norms the company has to pay 25% of the lease amount within 30 days.
At a press conference here, he said the officials involved in the lease process owe an explanation or they would have to face the consequences in the future. He said the terms mentioned on pages 20 and 21 of the agreement are clear and 25% has to be paid within 30 days. The remaining 75% is to be paid within 120 days. “If there are any changes in the rules, officials must explain why the rules were changed,” he said.
He said the Letter of Agreement regarding the ORR tender was done on April 27, 2023. The IRB Infra has to pay ₹1,800 crore of ₹7,300 crore to the government. If the payment is not made, the tender should be cancelled for violation of tender norms, he demanded.
Claiming that the ORR lease as a bigger ‘scam’ than the Delhi liquor policy ‘scam’, he said the BJP government had arrested those involved in the Delhi liquor policy change but is silent on the ORR issue. He asked how can the government lease out the ORR for 30 years when the HMDA Master Plan ends in 2031, and that too at such a low price. “Its worth in 30 years would be nearly a lakh crore,” he argued.
Mr. Reddy also questioned the silence of BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy on the lease. While their MLA, Raghunandan Rao had complained to the CBI, Mr. Kishan Reddy and Mr. Sanjay are silent, he said.
‘BJP at third place’
Mr. Reddy said the BJP leaders themselves were realising their poor third position in the State and this was revealed by a BJP national general secretary during his informal interaction with the media.
“Their national leaders believe BJP is way behind in third position and now they are working to ensure the BRS benefits from their weakness,” he claimed adding that people have already realised that only the Congress can defeat the BRS in Telangana. “Leaders who are still suffocating in BJP should leave their illusions, think and take a good decision,” he said.
