HYDERABAD/ KHAMMAM: TPCC president A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday alleged that the Chief Minister has now created a ‘Bihari mafia’ comprising IAS and IPS officers hailing from the central Indian state as a protective cover to loot Telangana. Revanth added that TRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao had told a TV channel back in 2008 that his ancestors had migrated to Telangana from Bihar.
Addressing the media at the Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress MP called upon the IAS and IPS officers of Telangana to raise their voice “against the corruption that is taking place on a massive scale in the state”.
He alleged that a section of bureaucrats, including Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration Department, Arvind Kumar, Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Rajat Kumar, Principal Secretary, IT and Industries, Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, GAD, Vikas Raj and Principal Secretary, PR & RD Sandeep Kumar Sultania, all natives of Bihar, were facilitating the ruling party to plunder the state’s wealth.
Expressing his doubts in the manner Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy was sent on leave, Revanth Reddy questioned why the state government was not releasing a health bulletin if he was suffering from any ailment and is undergoing treatment.
Claiming that the murder of two real estate businessmen at Ibrahimpatnam on Tuesday was due to irregularities in the Dharani portal directly under the control of Somesh Kumar, the TPCC chief said that lands on the Outer Ring Road were all grabbed by people close to those in power.
“Telangana movement was waged in the name of local self-respect. Except for AP cadre IAS and IPS officers, couldn’t the Chief Minister find a single officer from Telangana fit for those posts?” he asked.
Also ridiculing BJP leaders for threatening to send the Chief Secretary to jail in the near future, Revanth Reddy said that the Department of Personnel and Training’s (DOPT) petition on Somesh Kumar’s appointment to Telangana cadre which has been in the court since 2015, was deliberately not being brought to the bench for proceedings as it would be of no use if he retires in 2023.
He dared the BJP leaders to use the Additional Solicitor General appointed by the Centre to further the case, if they were committed to their cause. Revanth said that he would soon expose the brazen illegalities in giving permissions to builders in Narsinghi, Manchirevula and Kokapet lands, which were done to benefit some builders by Arvind Kumar and Somesh Kumar.
Why are AP cadre officers getting top posts: Bhatti
Madhira MLA Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday accused the TRS government of giving preference to Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS and IPS officers while neglecting officers from Telangana.
Addressing a roadside meeting on the fourth day of his 32-day padayatra in the Madhira Assembly constituency, the MLA criticised Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for appointing retired officers in key posts thereby burdening the state treasury.
Asking the government as to how many Telangana officers have benefited since the formation of the state, he hit out at the Chief Minister for allegedly giving priority to AP cadre officers such as Somesh Kumar, the Chief Secretary, and Anjani Kumar, the ACB Director-General.
IAS officers condemn leaders for bias
Condemning the statements of some politicians, the Telangana state IAS officers’ Association on Wednesday urged poalitical functionaries to refrain from making “misconceived and prejudicial statem-ents in future against members of the All India Service”.
In a statement here on Wednesday, the Association said that certain comments against AIS officers of Telangana, belonging to a particular state have been reported.
“The IAS Association strongly condemns these statements. AIS officers are allotted to a particular state as per all India Service Rules and are given postings by the governments concerned. The statements made targeting a few officers from a particular state reflect bias,” the Association said.