Bhatti Shielding Revanth Reddy, Alleges Harish Rao
Hyderabad: BRS senior leader Harish Rao accused Deputy CM Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka of trying to protect Chief Minister Revanth Reddy from the alleged coal scam. Harish Rao demanded a White Paper on how many ‘site visits’ were made, how many certificates were issued and reasons for rejection before tenders were floated. He said the BRS would expose more alleged scams against the Congress government.
Addressing a press conference, Harish Rao accused Bhatti of avoiding direct answers and using verbal tactics instead of addressing the real issue. He referred to the Deputy Prime Minister’s statement requesting a letter so that the issue could be discussed with the Prime Minister. “What purpose will such discussions serve when we clearly state that the architect of this fraud is the Prime Minister and the first beneficiary is his brother-in-law?” he wondered.
Harish Rao alleged that the government has changed policies to benefit selected contractors. He said previous claims that the site visit certification system existed were misleading. Harish Rao said that Srujan Reddy’s Shodha Constructions was the first to benefit from the site visit certification system. He noted that many contractors visited the sites, sent emails, letters and photos but were denied certificates without any explanation.
Harish Rao accused the government of pressuring for the loss of SCCL after coming to power. Citing figures, the BRS leader said that under the BRS government, SCCL has achieved production of 50 million tonnes (MT) in 2021, 62 MT in 2022 and 70 MT in 2023. After Congress came to power, production dropped to 69 MT in 2024-25 and 43 MT in 2025-26. Harish Rao questioned why only Rs 2,360 crore was shown as profit when Singari earned revenue of over Rs 6,394 crore and demanded disclosure of the remaining amount.
