Shabbir Ali questions KCR's silence on Kodandaram's issue

Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has questioned the silence of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao over the criticism on TJAC chairman Prof. M. Kodandaram by his party men and cabinet colleagues.

Addressing a press conference at CLP office here on Thursday, Shabbir Ali said that Kodandaram has only repeated what the Congress party has been saying in and outside the Assembly and Council on various failures of the State Government. However, almost half-a-dozen ministers and other leaders attacked Kodandaram with the worst ever language that could be used against a senior citizen, especially the one who played an active role in Telangana movement. He said some ministers even questioned the very identity of Kodandaram and TJAC.

Shabbir Ali played an old video-clip wherein KCR reacted very sharply to the comments made by the then minister T.G. Venkatesh against Kodandaram. While stating that Kodandaram was the representative of 4 crore people of Telangana, KCR had threatened to pluck the tongue of those who criticise the TJAC chief. He had even threatened to "bury those who criticise" Kodandaram. "Does KCR still maintain the same stand? Will KCR pluck the tongues of his ministers and leaders who criticised Kodandaram or will he bury other critics?" he asked.

When asked for reaction on Congress senior leader Palwai Govardhan Reddy's remarks on Jana Reddy and other leaders, Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party should serve a Show Cause Notice to the Rajya Sabhha MP. "Whenever he talks, he speaks ill about someone. He always targets one or the other leader. He had fielded his daughter Sravanti Reddy from Munugode constituency against the official candidate of Congress party in 2014 elections. He has no right to speak about Jana Reddy or other leaders," he said while requesting the Congress High Command to take serious action against Palwai.

Meanwhile, Shabbir Ali welcomed the road map announced by the Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for formation of new districts in the State. He said that the State Government was finally trying to adopt democratic means for constitution of new districts by way of introducing new district manual.