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Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao’s (KTR) on Sunday, October 20 criticised the Congress government for spending public money on a trip organised by the government to take journalists to Seoul, South Korea for the Musi rejuvenation project. Responding to the criticism, the Telangana Congress government has slammed KTR for several trips he undertook during the BRS’ 10 years in power and defended the Musi project.
KTR’s statements come in the backdrop of the Congress government taking 16 journalists from various newspapers, websites and TV channels on a three day trip to Seoul from October 21 to 24.
“My compliments to the Telangana Govt on sending a team of Experts, Environmentalists, Hydrologists, Engineers & Bureaucrats to study the RiverFront Development in Seoul. I am sure they will come back with excellent results and justify spending ₹ 1.5 Lakh Crores (approximately USD 18 Billion) of public money,” KTR tweeted sarcastically.
Ayodhya Reddy, the Congress spokesperson called KTR’s tweet a blatant insult to journalists. Most of the journalists on the list were seniors who have reported on the city extensively for years. “How dare KTR show such disregard for the journalist community? He owes the media an immediate apology for this disrespectful conduct, Ayodhya stated.
Sriram Karri, a former journalist who is now the Director of Communications for the Telangana government retorted to KTR’s barbs and called it a strategy to delegitimise media. “Effort to re-establish media as a legitimate stakeholder of democracy, governance being attacked by autocracy icons is a shame,” he stated
In response, the Congress government has also listed out a series of 24 government orders which mention KTR’s visits to Dubai, South Korea, Australia and USA among other countries, when he was the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) minister.
It is worth noting that at the initial launch of the Musi riverfront project, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had remarked that Rs 1.5 lakh crore would be allotted for Musi redevelopment. However, on Thursday, October 17, the CM clarified that only Rs 141 crore would be allotted for the project.
The Musi riverfront project has led to a war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition BRS. KTR also alleged that the Musi project could be completed for Rs 25 thousand crore but the cost was being inflated.