'KCR Came From Bihar To Loot Telangana': Revanth Reddy's Remark Sparks Row

A fresh controversy was triggered in the Telangana Assembly on Wednesday after Chief Minister Revanth Reddy accused his predecessor and leader of the opposition, K Chandrashekar Rao, of coming from Bihar to "loot" Telangana.

During a debate on land records and Section 22-A properties, Reddy linked his attack on the former Chief Minister to allegations of large-scale land accumulation during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime.

Referring to Rao, commonly known as KCR, and his family, he said they had attempted to "loot" the wealth left behind from the Nizam era.

He also accused "a single family" of attempting to take control of resources that, he argued, should benefit poor people, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.

"Which village are they from? They came from Bihar to loot Telangana. The Nizam government ran this government for 225 years and left everything behind. Whatever the Nizam government intended to give to us poor people, Dalits, Adivasis, and minority people, it is not reaching them. Only a single family tried to loot it, and we will not let any such case succeed here. We are standing right here, and whatever they took, we will bring everything out into the open. If it doesn't come out straight, we know how to bring it out the crooked way," he said.

Reddy also said he had no personal interest in acquiring wealth.

"The one above has given me everything. I have nothing to take for myself. I will work for the sake of poor people," he said.

Reddy's remarks came as his government stepped up scrutiny of land holdings linked to the KCR family.

The Congress leader ordered an inquiry into land surrounding KCR's farmhouse at Erravelli in Siddipet district and alleged that government-assigned land was part of the property. 

The government has directed officials to determine the land's ownership and status. 

Reddy has alleged that KCR and his extended family collectively held about 439 acres across Telangana.

The BRS has rejected the allegations and mounted counter-attacks on the Congress government. BRS floor leader T Harish Rao has raised questions about land holdings linked to the Revanth Reddy family, turning the assembly debate into a wider political confrontation over land ownership. 

Meanwhile, Reddy's attack on KCR came alongside controversial remarks praising aspects of the Nizam-era administration, which have miffed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking about Telangana's land and revenue history, Reddy described the Nizam as an effective administrator and added that the Nizam government had governed the Hyderabad State for more than two centuries with significant administrative achievements.

The timing of the remarks has triggered another political controversy as Hyderabad Liberation Day is being observed on September 17, marking the integration of the erstwhile Hyderabad State into the Indian Union in 1948. 

The Centre is holding a major event at Secunderabad Parade Grounds, with Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan as chief guest. 

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy and other BJP leaders have been strongly critical of the earlier BRS government and the ruling government over their approach to September 17. 

Reacting on Revanth Reddy's remark, Kishan Reddy argued that the day should commemorate the sacrifices made during the struggle against the Nizam and the Razakars. 

"They are distorting history solely for the sake of vote-bank politics. Trampling upon the sacrifices of the people who fought against the Nizam's tyranny and the atrocities of the Razakars, and merely glorifying the Nizam's buildings alone, is a testament to your sycophancy," he said.

"Hyderabad's history is not just the buildings constructed by the Nizam. It also includes the blood offerings of the warrior fighters who laid down their lives to topple that tyrannical rule. 
For distorting Telangana's history by glorifying the Nizam's tyrannical rule... I demand that CM Revanth Reddy unconditionally apologize to the families of the immortal heroes, the freedom fighters, and the people of the entire Telangana," he said.

Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar alleged that the history of the immortals who fought against the Nizam's autocratic rule is being deliberately erased by the previous BRS and the current Congress governments.

"As soon as the BJP comes to power in Telangana, we will officially conduct the Telangana Liberation Day celebrations on September 17," the BJP's Karimnagar MP said.