Hyderabad: The BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Monday came down heavily on the Congress-led Telangana government, accusing it of turning the state into a ‘commission raj’ where only those willing to pay bribes get their dues cleared.

Referring to the protest staged by small contractors in front of the Chief Minister’s office inside the state secretariat, Rama Rao said the fact that they were forced to take such a step was a clear reflection of the government’s moral and administrative bankruptcy. “This is not just a protest, it is a direct indictment of Revanth Reddy’s deteriorating rule,” he said.

Rao alleged that while the state government was clearing multi-crore bills of big contractors, including those reportedly linked to cabinet ministers, small contractors were being harassed and denied payments merely because they refused to pay 20 per cent commission. He questioned the logic behind the government having enough funds to send bags of cash to Delhi but not enough to pay contractors who worked on public welfare schemes. He reminded that this was not the first such protest. “Previously, contractors staged a demonstration in front of the Deputy Chief Minister’s chamber. Now they’ve reached the CM’s office. What further proof is needed of this administration’s decay?” he asked.

KTR said the ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi’ scheme, which aimed to improve school infrastructure for underprivileged children, was being tarnished due to non-payment of bills. “It is shameful that those who worked on such noble programmes are being neglected,” he said. “At the same time, bills of large contractors are being cleared at lightning speed. This exposes the two-faced nature of the Congress government,” he added.

KTR criticised the Revanth Reddy administration for defaulting on payments to genuine contractors while having no shortage of funds when it comes to sending money to the Congress high command in Delhi. “In just 20 months, this government borrowed Rs 2.2 lakh crore and hasn’t implemented even a single of the 420 promises it made. The public deserves to know where the money went. The government must immediately release a white paper on fund utilisation,” he demanded.

KTR demanded an independent investigation into the widely alleged 20 per cent commission racket. “When the Prime Minister himself has repeatedly stated that ‘RR tax’ exists in Telangana, why is there no probe into such corruption? The fact that contractors are openly accusing the government inside the Secretariat itself shows that the Congress regime has transformed into a full-fledged Commission Corporation,” he said.