BJP demands sitting judge probe into BRS and Cong. govts’ ‘scams’

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a full-fledged judicial inquiry by a sitting judge into a series of alleged corruption cases spanning both the previous BRS government and the current Congress regime in Telangana. The party seeks investigations into the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, Dharani land transactions, phone-tapping, sheep distribution, HMDA land deals, and several other issues.

“People deserve to know which contractors benefited and how many commissions were generated through the decisions taken by these governments. Congress and BRS are two sides of the same coin,” said party president N. Ramchander Rao at a press conference at the party’s State office on Thursday.

Mr. Rao accused the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government of “completely failing” to probe corruption during the BRS tenure and limiting itself to issuing notices for “publicity” instead of arresting “key BRS leaders involved in wrongdoing.” He alleged that only a few officials were being targeted while the primary culprits were being protected.

Recalling earlier statements by Revanth Reddy, Mr. Rao said the Chief Minister had vowed, while in the Opposition, to send BRS leaders to jail for their alleged irregularities. “But after coming to power, he has been unable to act, relying instead on half-hearted investigations conducted through so‑called Special Investigation Teams,” he said. Despite two years of Congress rule, he added, no major investigation had been completed and the same contractors continued to hold influence, including in the Naini coal block.

He further charged that although Congress and BRS may be different political entities, their “exploitative methods remain the same,” and appealed to voters to “teach both parties a lesson” in the upcoming municipal elections by supporting the BJP

Mr. Rao alleged that both Congress and BRS were staging “deliberate dramas” to undermine the BJP’s rising public support, citing recent gram panchayat elections where the BJP won nearly 1,000 sarpanch positions, 10,000 ward seats, and 1,200 deputy sarpanch posts.

In a separate statement, BJP spokesperson N.V. Subash accused both parties of making a “mockery of the anti-defection law,” questioning how a BRS MLA could join the Congress and contest the Lok Sabha elections without resigning. He challenged defecting MLAs to resign and seek a fresh mandate.