Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is currently in Telangana for his election campaign. As part of his visit, he had planned to go to the Medigadda project site. However, there were some complications as the state police initially refused permission for his helicopter to land at Ambatipalli. In order to proceed with the visit, the Congress party had to obtain permission from the Election Commission of India.
The state police cited that Section 144 was in effect at Medigadda and no one was allowed to go there. Despite this, Rahul Gandhi stated that he would visit the project regardless, after his meeting with women voters at Ambatipally in Manthani Assembly constituency.
Eventually, it was decided that Rahul Gandhi would travel to Ambatipally by helicopter and then continue by road to Medigadda, which is approximately 61 kilometers away.
Meanwhile, Duddilla Sridhar Babu, the Congress candidate and MLA for Manthani, pointed out several flaws in the construction of barrages under the Kaleshwaram project. These flaws have been surfacing one after another, starting with Medigadda 10 days ago, and now Annaram and Sundilla barrages.
Earlier, K T Rama Rao, the working president of BRS, suggested that Rahul Gandhi should visit Kaleshwaram to understand how the world’s largest lift irrigation project was constructed and how it was benefiting one lakh acres of land for irrigation.
During a public meeting in Kalwakurthy, Rahul Gandhi mentioned the sinking pillars of Medigadda and called on Chief Minister KCR to visit the site and see why this issue occurred, especially since KCR claimed to have designed it. Rahul Gandhi also reiterated his allegation of corruption amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore in the project.
Expressing concern over the damages to barrages which were expected to last for 100 years, Rahul Gandhi emphasized that this issue not only affects the barrages but also the lives of four crore people in the state.
