Hyderabad: Leaders of several opposition parties in Telangana have demanded a probe into the wedding expenses of a top bureaucrat’s daughter after a media investigation has revealed that executives of a Hyderabad-based government contractor were involved in the planning of the five star wedding that took place at Taj Faluknama Palace.
The investigative report by The News Minute stated that documents found by the journalist showed executives of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) were closely involved in planning Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Dr Rajath Kumar’s daughter’s wedding that was spread over five days and multiple luxury venues between December 17 and 21, 2021.
MEIL, the company which is implementing mega infrastructure projects in the state, is also carrying out the Telangana government’s Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project. The project is recognized to be the world’s largest multi-stage irrigation project and is run by MEIL. The cost of the project is currently accounted for a huge Rs 1.15 lakh crore. It is the country’s most expensive irrigation project taken up by a state government. MEIL is building massive power substations and transmission lines for the project and Rajat Kumar heads the Irrigation and Command Area Development Department which monitors the project.
Rajat Kumar was the head of the state election commission in the past. He was in the news in 2019 when a fabricated document claimed that the ruling TRS gifted land to him for favouring them in the 2019 elections.
“Documents with TNM reveal that MEIL executives coordinated the contracts, bookings and payments for the wedding celebrations with the Taj Group, whose hotels Taj Krishna, Taj Deccan and Taj Falaknuma were used for the various wedding events and for the wedding guests to stay,” the report said.
The whole expenses of the wedding were billed to a “BigWave Infra Private Limited” and when the reporter at TNM went looking for the registered address, the company wasn’t there, the report added.
Both Rajat Kumar and MEIL denied the accusations, the TNM said. Opposition leaders from various parties targetted the ruling TRS over the report and demanded a fair probe into the matter.
“Who sponsored the five-star wedding of Telangana’s Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar’s daughter? Was it done as Quid pro quo?” questioned TPCC Chief Revanth Reddy.
BJP General Secreatary P Muralidhar Rao said that the matter can’t be pushed aside as a “routine matter” and a coherent explanation is the need.
Former IPS officer and Bahujan Samaj Party Telangana Chief RS Praveen Kumar demanded that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is also the state’s irrigation minister, order a CBI enquiry into the alleged quid pro quo. “Telangana deserves to know the truth,” he remarked.
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