'Kaleshwaram scam bigger than 2G, Coalgate': YS Sharmila demands probe, detained during protest march to Parliament

YSR Telangana Party chief YS Sharmila was taken into custody by the Delhi police on Tuesday while she was on a “Chalo Parliament” march, over the alleged massive corruption in Telangana's Kaleshwaram irrigation project executed by the K Chandrasekhar Rao government.

Sharmila, daughter of late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, a two-time chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh, parted ways with her elder brother and present AP chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy, and formed the YSRTP in 2021, and is focused on Telangana politics.

Sharmila has been on a padayatra in the state, severely criticizing the BRS dispensation and alleging corruption of all forms in the state from the MLAs to chief minister level.

On Tuesday, Sharmila took her corruption allegations to New Delhi, in a bid to “expose the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project execution at the national level.”

Sharmila was stopped and detained by the Delhi police while she was marching towards Parliament from Jantar Mantar.

“Kaleshwaram is the biggest scam in the country, much bigger than the 2G, Coalgate etc scams. Rs 1.2 lakh crore public money was poured into the project and KCR looted thousands of crores in the process. While the promise was to irrigate 18 lakh acres of farmlands, not even 1.5 lakh acre land was supplied water, as admitted by the BRS minister in the Telangana assembly,” Sharmila told reporters.

Expressing her "disappointment with concerned authorities for not initiating any audit or investigation into the irregularities", Sharmila is demanding action on the allegations now.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is a multipurpose purpose project on River Godavari in north Telangana, touted as one of the world's biggest irrigation projects.

The BJP too accuses the Kaleshwaram project has become an ATM for the KCR family.