Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President and Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that there the present buildings of Secretariat and Assembly were perfect for utilisation for several decades and there was absolutely no need to demolish them for replacement with new structures.
Speaking at the All Party Round Table conference organised by former MP G. Vivek on Sunday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress party was opposed to the construction of new Secretariat and Assembly on the single ground that it was huge waste of public money.
He said new complexes for Secretariat and Assembly were not needed as the present buildings could be used for several decades.
“I had served as MLA for 5 consecutive terms and I’m quite familiar with the Assembly premises. I’ve seen Assembly buildings of many States and now I’m attending Parliament as MP. In my opinion, the present Assembly, both in functioning and aesthetics is on par if not better than the Parliament.
In fact, the sitting arrangements and in many other areas, the Assembly is very well designed and very perfect for the purpose. Earlier, it was used by 294 MLAs and the same complex was used simultaneously for Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States. There is sufficient office space for everybody,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the proposal to construct a new Assembly complex was completely unjustified. “For what purpose a new Assembly is needed? For whom and why it is needed? I think Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao or anybody on behalf of the government has given any justification. Not even once they gave the reasons for shifting the Assembly,” he said.
Similarly, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that there was absolutely no reason to demolish the Secretariat and build a new structure at the same place. He recalled that he had served as a minister in Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet and functioned from the 7th floor in J-Block.
Despite being old, J-Block is in perfect shape. There are other blocks which are quite new. Almost all the blocks can be used for another 50-70 years, he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said KCR was habitual of changing the narrative frequently. He said KCR had objected to the Metro Rail passing in front of Assembly building on the pretext that it was a heritage building and its identity could not be tampered with.
However, now KCR is mooting the demolition of same Assembly building calling it obsolete. He had a different stand on Metro Rail route at Assembly and Sultan Bazar. But he took a diametrically different stand after he became the Chief Minister.
He said KCR gave a different narrative when he planned to construct the Secretariat at Bison Grounds.
Quoting a few media reports, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Chief Minister wants to demolish the Assembly and Secretariat buildings as he believes that their Vasthu was not compliant to make his son (K. Tarakarama Rao) next Chief Minister.
The TPCC Chief announced that the Congress party would participate in whatever efforts that are put together by any NGO or other parties to stop demolition of Assembly and Secretariat and avoid wasteful expenditure of public money.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also expressed concern over some reports wherein a judge of High Court has reportedly remarked that the courts could not review policy decisions of State Government. He informed that he was preparing to speak in Parliament on the functioning of High Courts and how some judgments are being delivered.
Referring to an article published in a leading newspaper, he said he was surprised to know that the Chief Minister has reportedly met a top judicial officer to brief him on irrigation projects at a time when the matter is being heard by the a bench headed by Chief Justice in the court.
He said dilution of roles or nexus between Executive and Judiciary was dangerous for the democracy.
“If something is extremely detrimental to the public interest and if the judiciary does not intervene then the matter is of serious concern. We must make relentless efforts to try to convince judiciary on huge waste of public money,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy urged all political parties and NGOs to building strong public opinion against the demolition of present buildings and construction of new Assembly and Secretariat. (INN)