Congress senior leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir has thrown an open challenge to BRS working president K. Tarakarama Rao for a debate on the increase in the KCR family’s assets in the last 14 years.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, Shabbir Ali ridiculed KTR’s claims of honesty and demanded an explanation for the exponential rise in the family’s wealth.
Presenting official asset declarations, he highlighted that KTR’s assets grew from Rs 4.32 crore in 2009 to Rs 53.32 crore in 2023. Harish Rao’s assets rose from Rs 67.57 lakh in 2009 to Rs 24.29 crore in 2023.
Former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s assets jumped from Rs 86 lakh in 2004 to Rs 58.93 crore in 2023, while Kalvakuntla Kavitha’s assets surged from Rs 6.19 crore in 2014 to Rs 39.79 crore in 2023. On an average, the KCR family’s wealth increased by 30.81 times during this period.
Shabbir Ali demanded accountability, questioning whether the family had legitimate business ventures or investments to justify such financial growth.
He challenged KTR to provide a detailed account of his family’s wealth in an open debate. He also accused KTR of making baseless allegations against the Congress government to divert attention from corruption charges against the BRS government and the KCR family.
Shabbir Ali cited high-profile cases, including a judicial probe into irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Project, allegations of phone tapping, and an FIR in the Formula E Race Car scam.
He referred to a SIT probe ordered by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy into irregularities in leasing the ORR to a private company for 30 years.
He said KTR made a U-turn in the Formula E race case. Initially, KTR defended sanctioning the funds in his capacity as the concerned minister.
However, in his affidavit submitted to the High Court, he shifted the blame onto officials, claiming it was the responsibility of the bureaucrats to ensure all necessary approvals were in place before transferring the funds. He said KTR’s attempts to hide corruption would fail.
Shabbir Ali stated that the Congress government was addressing this misuse of taxpayers’ money by ensuring that Rythu Bharosa funds are given only to cultivable lands.
He called upon KTR to accept the challenge of an open debate, asserting that until transparency is established, KTR’s claims of integrity would remain unconvincing.