Ponnam rebuts Bandi Sanjay’s ‘vote-buying’ charges, accuses BJP of admitting ‘tainted’ BRS leaders of Karimnagar into its fold

Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Monday strongly rebutted the charges made by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay that the Congress had forged a secret pact with the AIMIM to defeat the BJP by spending ₹100 crore in the Karimnagar Municipal Corporation (KMC) election, slated for Wednesday (February 11).

It was the BJP that colluded with the BRS against the Congress, he alleged, daring Mr. Sanjay to prove his charges against the Congress.

“The Congress will offer a clean and transparent administration in the KMC hit by rampant corruption during the BRS rule,” he said, saying the Congress will emerge triumphant in the civic polls.

Mr. Prabhakar addressed a series of street corner meetings in Karimnagar on the last day of electioneering on Monday.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Mr. Prabhakar alleged that several former BRS corporators were involved in land grabbing cases. The BJP admitted some of the tainted BRS leaders, facing allegations of corruption in the ‘Smart City Project’ works in KMC, into the party, he alleged, accusing the two parties of sheer opportunism.

The inferior quality of works on the much-publicised cable-stayed bridge constructed during the BRS government lays bare the hollow claims of the BRS rulers of transforming Karimnagar into a Smart City, he said, taking a dig at BRS MLA from Karimnagar Gangula Kamalakar.

He said laying of an outer ring road, comprehensive development of Karimnagar city and decentralisation of KMC administration on the lines of the GHMC to strengthen service delivery and grievance redressal system will be given top priority. The dumping yard issue would be resolved permanently, he added.

He said that the Satavahana University, the Passport Seva Kendra, Matha-Sishu Hospital and Kendriya Vidyalaya among other key institutions and facilities were set up in Karimnagar during the successive Congress governments in the past. Last year saw establishment of the University College of Law and Engineering at Satavahana University.