HYDERABAD: The visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Telangana, scheduled for Saturday evening, was postponed at the last minute, with Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar and BJP chief spokesperson NV Subhash attributing this to “unavoidable reasons”.
The sudden change in schedule, however, has set off speculation in political circles in Telangana, particularly over Shah’s proposed appearance at the silver jubilee celebrations of a private medical college in Karimnagar.
The college is owned by a prominent contractor who has undertaken works relating to components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and who has also figured in allegations made by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the Assembly over land transactions.
It is this coincidence of timing and circumstances that has led to questions within political circles over whether the BJP wanted to avoid getting drawn into a controversy surrounding the college owner.
Revanth had alleged in the Assembly that the contractor, whom he described as a benami of former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, had obtained government land at Vattinagulapally in his own name and in the name of his company. He had also alleged that Bhoodan lands had been assigned to him despite being covered by the prohibited category under Section 22-A.
The allegations have acquired a wider political context because of the Congress government’s action on the alleged Kaleshwaram project scam.
The Telangana government has already ordered inquiries into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, including the construction of barrages that suffered damage and related works. It subsequently issued orders for a CBI probe and withdrew its earlier general consent for CBI investigations in the state, subject to specific cases. The progress of the proposed investigation has since remained a matter of political debate.
It is against this backdrop that questions are being asked about why the Home minister should appear at a function connected to a businessman who has figured in allegations by the state government and whose companies have undertaken works connected with Kaleshwaram.
People familiar with the political calculations say the concern within BJP circles was less about the function itself and more about the political baggage that could accompany it. Shah’s presence, they argue, could have handed the ruling Congress an opportunity to link the BJP with the medical college owner and, by extension, raise questions about the Centre’s position on the Kaleshwaram probe.
In politics, perception can sometimes travel faster than fact. With the Congress and the BRS already trading allegations over land, buildings, companies, hotels, hospitals, educational institutions and other business interests, the BJP has little incentive to walk into a controversy of its own making, party sources said.
The timing also matters. Telangana’s political calendar is filling up, with the Graduates MLC elections, the likelihood of Khairatabad Assembly byelection and elections to the GHMC, municipal corporations, municipalities and other urban local bodies, including those in Warangal and Khammam, on the political horizon.
BJP leaders are also discussing the fact that this is not the first time Shah’s proposed visit to the medical college has been called off or deferred.
That has added another layer to the questions being raised within political circles.
The BJP, however, has sought to keep the matter simple.
For now, “unavoidable reasons” is the party’s official explanation. The rest remains in the realm of political speculation — fuelled by the timing of the decision, the identity of the host and the wider battle over Kaleshwaram.