Leader of Opposition in Telangana Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has asserted that Congress candidate Sarve Satyanarayana would win the Warangal by-election with a thumping majority.
Addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday, Shabbir Ali said the Warangal voters have understood the secret nexus between TRS, BJP and TDP. He said during the peak of campaign for Warangal by-poll, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu had a secret meeting with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao at the latter’s farm house. Similarly, KCR attended Amaravati’s foundation stone laying ceremony and remained silent over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks over bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. KCR also did not react to AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu thanking the Centre for merging seven mandals of Khammam into AP, he said, adding that the trio agreed to hush up ‘Cash for Vote’ and ‘Phone Tapping’ cases.
Shabbir Ali said both the TRS government and NDA government at the Centre have been enacting blame game over the issue of cotton farmers. Similarly, both are blaming each over drought-hit mandals. Citing another instance, Shabbir Ali said the Centre has agreed to fund 1.94 lakh houses in Andhra Pradesh as against 10,000 houses in Telangana.
The Congress leader also slammed Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali’s recent statement questioning his (Shabbir Ali’s) contribution to the Muslim community. He retorted, “The Minorities Welfare Department was created by me in 1993 during Congress Government. Nearly 10 lakh poor Muslim families have benefitted from the 4% reservation in jobs and education since 2004 and the entire credit goes to the Congress party. Lakhs of other poor Muslims benefited from various schemes implemented during the Congress regime,” he asserted.
Reacting to Mahmood Ali’s allegations that he damaged Wakf properties, Shabbir Ali furnished the complete list of lands allotted to nine different companies like Infosys, MANUU, Wipro ISB, etc., in Manikonda village and said all the allotments were done from 18-12-2000 to 21-11-2003 during TDP regime. Similarly, the APIIC allotted land to Lanco Infratech on 17-08-2005 through an International Competition Bidding. Then Mohammed Fareeduddin was the Minister for Wakfs and presently, he is with the TRS. “I neither had Revenue nor Wakf portfolio during this period. It was only in April 2007 that I was made in-charge for Minorities Welfare in addition to the I&PR and Energy portfolios,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said the Deputy CM’s allegations are baseless. He also condemned Mahmood Ali for alleging that his son was a Director in Lanco company. Furnishing the list of Directors of Lanco Infratech, Lanco Group and Lanco Hills, he said his son’s name does not figure in the list of Directors in any of these companies. He asked Mahmood Ali to either prove the allegations within 24 hours or tender an apology for making baseless allegations. (NSS)