The announcement made by Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy to hand over the case of alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raised many eyebrows.
Everyone expected that Revanth would form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with top state officials to handle the investigation into the irregularities, corruption, and failures in the Kaleshwaram project to bring the case to a logical conclusion.
But Revanth chose to wash off his hands by entrusting the probe to the CBI. This has raised several questions: Has Revanth felt that he has scored political brownie points over the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao by ordering a judicial probe by Justice P C Ghose and tabling its report in the assembly, leaving the rest to the Centre?
The Ghosh Committee identified multiple irregularities amounting to criminal offences and recommended a deeper probe. Analysts wonder whether the Revanth government is of the view that its own officials cannot conduct a fair and independent investigation.
“Maybe, given the involvement of central and state agencies — including WAPCOS, PFC, and REC — in the project, Revanth thought of handing over the probe to the CBI because of the inter-state and central links,” another analyst said.
But critics recall Revanth’s recently statement about “karma” and that KCR “punished himself” and wonder whether he has now decided to pardon KCR, KTR, and Harish Rao, indirectly asking the people to forgive them too.
“Will this move send a wrong message to the public, as the BRS keeps claiming the Ghosh Report is flawed, thereby undermining the credibility of the probe? Will BRS leaders now feel emboldened, thinking the CBI probe could drag on just like other high-profile cases?” the analyst asked.
There is also a talk that Revanth is hesitant to take action, as arresting KTR or KCR could politically backfire and hence, might have thought it safer to pass the responsibility to the Centre.
The BJP had long been demanding a CBI probe, perhaps to keep a sword hanging over KCR. With the case now under the Centre, this will turn out to be a political move that benefits the BJP more than the Congress.
Now the question is will the CBI pursue the probe seriously, or will it drag the case out — turning Kaleshwaram into another endless investigation like the Jagan disproportionate assets case?
Meanwhile, crucial engineering issues remain unresolved — whether to repair the damaged piers, reconstruct parts of the barrage, or even scrap Medigadda entirely after declaring it unsafe. Questions about the safety and future of other barrages like Annaram and Sundilla remain.
For now, the stage has shifted to Delhi, where the next moves on the Kaleshwaram investigation will unfold.
