Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Prakash Reddy on Tuesday took a dig at the secular credentials of Congress, claiming that the ongoing renovation work in Telangana Secretariat was a “criminal waste.”
Taking a dig at Telangana Chief Minister Revanath Reddy, BJP leader Prakash Reddy said that the CM who belongs to the “so-called secular party” of Rahul Gandhi wants to change some structures in the Secretariat by spending “few hundreds of crores.”
“The Chief Minister who belongs to the so-called secular party of Rahul Gandhi now wants to change some of the structures in the secretariat by spending a few hundred crores, just for the sake of Vaastu. This is public money and he has no right (to do so). I say that it is a criminal waste (of money). We also condemned the previous KCR government when it reconstructed the secretariat by destroying the old (secretariat),” he said.
“The KCR (K Chandrashekar Rao) government ruled this state (Telangana) for 10 years and they totally demolished the Secretariat. They reconstructed it by spending more than Rs 1,500 crores, just in the name of Vaastu. It depends on the believers, but when those who rule claim to be secular what is the point?” the BJP spokesperson asked.
Meanwhile, Telangana Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy dismissed allegations that the Congress government in the State was spending more than Rs 2 crore for renovation of the secretariat.
This comes after Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) took aim at the Congress government in Telangana for allegedly spending nearly Rs 3.5 crore for the installation of only the main gate at the Secretariat that was removed recently.
The BRS also accused the Telangana government of indulging in the renovation of the Secretariat because of Vaastu, which has also been dismissed by the state Roads Minister.
Reddy informed that the state government will unveil the Telangana Thalli statue inside the secretariat on the occasion of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s birthday. The unveiling will be done before one lakh people, he added.
“It is not about Vaastu. We are installing Telangana Thalli’s statue. On December 9, Sonia Gandhi’s birthday, we are going to unveil a statue of Telangana Thalli inside the State Secretariat. The statue represents the everyday woman of Telangana. The unveiling will be done in front of one lakh people. It is not really about Vaastu, but about increasing visitors and the general public. Earlier, even the press was not allowed,” Telangana Roads Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said while speaking to the media.