The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief and Parliament member N. Uttam Kumar Reddy lashed out at the TRS government, accusing it of turning the elected representatives of Panchayat Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) into symbolic entities with no powers or say in the decision-making process.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has completely crushed Gram Panchayats and other institutions by ending their relevance just to have his say. The State government was using Panchayat Raj institutions and urban local bodies for corruption, he said.
He was addressing a day-long Satyagraha Deeksha at Indira Park, organised by Rajiv Gandhi Panchayati Raj Sanghatan to highlight the neglect of PR institutions and urban local bodies and their elected representatives by TRS government.
The Deeksha was also addressed by CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, MLAs Seethakka and Jagga Reddy, former PCC presidents V. Hanumantha Rao and Ponnala Lakshmaiah, working president Ponnam Prabhakar, AICC secretary G. Chinna Reddy, former Ministers Mohammed Ali Shabbir and J. Geeta Reddy, Panchayati Raj Sanghatan State in-charge Kiran, PRS State convener Dr Palvai Harish and others.
The TPCC chief alleged that the KCR government was harassing the elected representatives of Congress party, especially in rural areas of Telangana. He said that the Congress party would not tolerate the harassment of the TRS party. He advised all the elected representatives of Congress to get in touch with PRS State convener Dr. Harish and other leaders if they are ever subjected to any kind of harassment or discrimination by the TRS government.
Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that TRS leaders were looting the Gram Panchayats by taking commission from agencies for purchase of tractors, LEDs and other items. He said Panchayats were being forced to purchase the tractors through selective contractors. He said that the State government has been making claims of constructing Rythu Vedikas and Shamshana Vatikas across Telangana. But no bills have been released so far for those works.
Mr. Vikramarka said the government was forcing officials not to follow the protocol and neglecting the elected representatives of the Congress party and this was nothing but hitting at the dignity of the representatives. Such attitude was not only illegal but also inhuman, he felt.
Mr. Ponnala Lakshmaiah said the officials were deliberately not paying the bills for developmental works done by the Congress Sarpanches, ZPTCs and other elected representatives. They were blindly following the orders of the TRS party leaders rather than performing their Constitutional duties. He warned them to mend their ways.
The Congress leaders also paid tributes to senior leader Motilal Vora who passed away on Monday. They observed two-minute silence as a mark of respect for the former CM of Madhya Pradesh.
