Will not contest next elections if Congress Govt does not build more houses than BRS: Ponguleti

Telangana Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy has asserted that the Congress Government is firm on providing houses to as many poor as possible before the completion of its five year tenure and plans in this direction have already translated into action.

He ridiculed the claims made by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA and party working president K.T. Rama Rao that the latter will quit politics if the Congress can prove it has constructed houses for the poor. The Minister, accepting the challenge, said he will not contest the next election if the government does not construct more liveable houses than the previous BRS government before the end of its tenure.

“I will not contest the next election if the government does not fulfil its assurance of providing houses to eligible poor. Is Mr. Drama Rao (Mr. K.T. Rama Rao) ready to accept the challenge?” he asked at a press conference held in Hyderabad on Wednesday (May 27, 2026).

Another Minister, Ponnam Prabhakar, alleged that the BRS Government failed to take up housing project in over 10,000 of the more than 12,000 gram panchayats across the State whereas the Congress Government had taken up construction of houses in all villages under the Indiramma Indlu, weaker section housing programme. “I am ready for anything if KTR can prove otherwise,” he said.

Mr. Prabhakar alleged that the housing scheme was taken up in select constituencies during the BRS rule benefitting some leaders of the coterie surrounding the party president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Mr. Srinivas Reddy charged the previous Government for neglecting the interests of the poor and “dismantling” the Housing Board. The Congress Government had initiated the Indiramma Indlu programme taking up construction of 4.5 lakh houses with a whopping ₹22,500 crore across the State, including in the remote habitations.

Indiramma Houses Phase II

Over one lakh houses had been completed and beneficiaries were performing house warming. Another one lakh houses would be completed before June end. This was not all as the government had decided to roll out the second phase of Indiramma Indlu targeting construction of 2,000 houses for poor in each of the 119 constituencies. “The government is not looking at who is representing the constituency, unlike the BRS. Number of poor in the constituency is the only criterion for the construction of houses,” he averred.

16,000 of 46,000 2BHKs left in different stages of construction

Launching a scathing attack on the BRS leaders, he said the previous government had constructed 46,000 two bedroom houses in its 10-year tenure and 16,000 others were left in different stages of construction. Of the completed houses, 21,000 remained unoccupied as the residents were not given basic amenities like drinking water, sewerage and others while a majority of these houses were constructed in areas far from the places where the allottees work. “A major chunk of houses were left unoccupied and our government had reallotted them subsequently after creating necessary amenities,” he said.

39 locations within ORR identified

Keeping in view the lapses that occurred during the BRS regime, the Congress government had resolved to construct houses in the areas where the eligible poor lived. Accordingly, 39 locations were identified within outer ring road (ORR) limits with land ranging from 1,000 square yards to 20 acres. The Minister said that there were lands which were worth around ₹75 crore to ₹100 crore an acre, but the government accorded priority to housing for poor rather than looking into the economic aspects. “We have decided to extend the ₹5 lakh assistance to eligible urban poor for taking up construction of houses on the lines of Indiramma Indlu,” he said.

The government was drafting policy for urban poor which was in final stages of preparation. The policy would be announced soon and the foundation stone for urban housing scheme would be laid by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The constructed houses would be registered in the name of women and the government had resolved to register these houses free of cost.