Kamareddy: Congress slams District Collectors for touching CM KCR's feet

Kamareddy: Former Minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned District Collectors of Kamareddy and Siddipet, who touched the feet of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao during his visit to inaugurated Collector's complexes.

"Kamareddy Collector A Sharat and Siddipet Collector P Venkatrama Reddy are not only IAS officers but also District Magistrates. They have sent a wrong message and set a wrong precedent by bowing down before the CM, who is a political functionary.

The Congress party will lodge a formal complaint against their behaviour and seek action. We will also refer the matter to the Governor and also the President of India as both of them have insulted the Constitution," Shabbir Ali said while addressing a press conference at Kamareddy on Monday.

Ridiculing the District Collectors' justification that they touched CM KCR's feet as a mark of respect, Shabbir Ali said the District Collectors have apparently forgotten that as per the Constitution, a Collector is the chief officer of the revenue administration and is responsible for the collection of land revenue, and is also the highest revenue judicial authority in the district.

Further, as the District Magistrate, he is responsible for law and order and heads the police and prosecuting agency. "By touching CM KCR's feet, who is also the president of ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), both the Collectors insulted the Constitution and behaved like political functionaries," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that some IAS officers who are trying to please CM KCR were involved in corruption, land grabbing and other activities. He also alleged that CM KCR has turned the event of inauguration of district complexes of Siddipet and Kamareddy as a TRS function.

'The CM did not meet common people, farmers, students, traders, or any other person except a few TRS leaders. All functionaries of opposition parties like Congress and BJP were either arrested or placed under house arrest.

In Kamareddy, even media personnel were locked in a room and were asked to take the news feed provided by the officials. Even the elected representatives like Councillors or Zilla Parishad members of opposition parties were not permitted to attend the event,' he said.

Shabbir Ali criticised that local police and administration took all people, who planned to submit a memorandum to the CM seeking redressal of their grievances, into preventive custody before the CM's arrival. "This is nothing but the worst form of dictatorship," he alleged.

He pointed out that the CM's promise of providing medical college to Kamareddy during 2018 elections remained unfulfilled. Chief Minister KCR also neglected Kamareddy by not sanctioning Rs 200 crore to bring Godavari River water to the district, he said and added that KCR also shifted veterinary college to Nizamabad.

Noting that the promised 2BHK houses were not provided to journalists, he said none of the promises made with the people of Kamareddy were fulfilled by the TRS government. Shabbir Ali said that the Congress would expose the failures of TRS government, especially the deliberate neglect of Kamareddy by the Chief Minister.