A political dust storm over the Singareni coal mines Premium
The Hindu
The Congress and the BRS in Telangana are involved in mudslinging over the alleged irregularities in tenders for removal of overburden in Singareni Collieries
Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), the 140-year-old State Public Sector Undertaking in Telangana has been in news for all wrong reasons in the recent weeks, with the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the ruling Congress sparring over alleged irregularities in tenders for removal of overburden (the layer of soil, rock, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam) in the coal mines.
The ruling party has been forced on the back foot by the BRS, with the ruling party lacking punch in its rebuttal. The BRS has alleged that the tender norms were framed in favour of Congress bigwigs and their kin, helping them make easy money and causing loss to the company.
Also read | Harish Rao alleges more scams in Singareni, demands judicial or CBI probe
Buoyed by the encouraging results in the Gram Panchayat elections held in December last year, the BRS has added a pinch of aggression in targeting the ruling party. The Congress claimed that candidates backed by it won about 60% of the 12,733 Sarpanch posts, which is seen by the Opposition as an underperformance for a ruling party. The BRS claimed over 40% success rate in the Gram Panchayat polls held on non-party basis. The BRS has sharpened its attack on the Congress at every given opportunity in a bid to consolidate its position further in the upcoming election to urban local bodies (ULB), which is fought on party symbols.
The row over the Singareni tenders erupted when senior BRS leader and former Minister T. Harish Rao piled the allegations of irregularities on January 19. The BRS’s main target in the matter is not Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka, who handles the portfolio of Energy under which the SCCL operates. Rather, it is Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. The party says the Chief Minister got the ‘site visit certification’ system introduced in the tenders with a view to favour his brother-in-law (wife’s brother) S. Srujan Reddy’s companies, with bids quoted at a value much higher than the estimates prepared by the company.
Also read | Singareni workers’ welfare top priority of govt.: Bhatti
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