YSRTP chief YS Sharmila during protest against Telangana’s KCR government in Delhi. (ANI)
YS Sharmila and her group had planned an agitation against Telangana’s KCR government’s Kaleshwaram ‘scam’ but were detained before the scheduled time of the protest, at 1 pm
YS Sharmila, chief of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party (YSRTP), was on Tuesday detained by Delhi police for marching towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar along with other protesters. The group had planned agitation against Telangana’s KCR government’s Kaleshwaram ‘scam’.
“India has seen many big scams. I am here today to throw light on the biggest scam in the country, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project scam. We will march to the Parliament to show how big how big this scam is,” Sharmila had said before her detention.
She even claimed that President’s rule should be imposed in the state to make way for impartial inquiry by central agencies.
Speaking to the media in Hyderabad on Monday, Sharmila had expressed her disappointment against the authorities for not initiating any action, audit or investigation into the irregularities that were already in public.
The YSRTP leader was quoted by local media as saying that she had to resort to this step (of protest) to draw the attention of the entire nation and the Parliamentarians towards the biggest fiasco of Telangana.
“Let the entire country realise the magnitude of the scam and our tireless fight in the last two years. The project cost was escalated from Rs 38,500 crore to Rs 1.20 lakh crore but on Sunday, the BRS minister claimed only 1.5 lakh acres of land has been irrigated. This shows that Kaleshwaram is the biggest flop show but filled the pockets of one contractor and one family,” Sharmila was quoted as saying.
The News Minute quoted Sharmila as saying the Kaleshwaram project is such a disaster and a blot that KCR who had earlier flaunted it as a monument and a tourist destination, today doesn’t let media or the opposition anywhere near it. She said the opposition leaders in the state are silent, and so are the central ministers who do lip service but won’t act.
The protest by Andhra Pradesh CM’s sister comes barely four days after Telangana chief minister’s daughter was at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for a protest to demand for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Calling K Kavitha’s dharna “a farce”, the YRSTP chief said, “KCR himself has not implemented women reservation. With so many crimes against women, Telangana has become like a landmine and we don’t know when will it explode and what will happen.”
She went to say that BRS leaders are also involved in crimes against women. “Dalit women are assaulted and killed in lockups but chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao won’t say a word,” Sharmila added.
READ MORE | For the Women, By the Women: In Battle of CMs’ Fam, it’s KCR’s Daughter vs Jagan’s Sister
The political fight in Telangana is not just between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the new entrant YSR Telangana Rashtra Samithi (YSRTP), but a high-octane verbal war between the daughters of two Telugu political stalwarts — K Chandrashekar Rao (TRS) and late YS Rajasekhara Reddy (Congress).
In a daughter-versus-daughter drama, Sharmila and Kavitha have been exchanging political barbs on public and social media platforms much to the amusement of observers.
READ MORE | How Telangana Tussle between K Kavitha and YS Sharmila Took a Turn for The Verse
Sharmila has been walking across Telangana, emulating her brother Jagan’s Praja Sankalp Yatra of 2017 in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, to gain support for her YSRTP before the 2023 Assembly elections.
When Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, state BJP president Bandi Sanjay, Union minister G Kishan Reddy and other party leaders came out in support of Sharmila and condemned the attack on her, Kavitha called the YSRTP an “arrow of the BJP”, one she alleged is being used to target the TRS.
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