Following The News Minute’s investigation which revealed a nexus between Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) and Telangana Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar, the principal opposition party Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have demanded an investigation into the matter on Thursday, January 27. MEIL has got several government construction contracts, and most importantly, is carrying out work for Telangana’s ambitious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. The cost of the project is currently pegged at a whopping Rs 1.15 lakh crore. And Rajat Kumar is the nodal officer of this prestigious irrigation project.
Responding to the report, Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy questioned the relationship between MEIL and the Chief Secretary asked if it was a case of ‘quid pro quo.’ Revanth asked if Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is also the Irrigation Minister, would order a probe into the connection between the IAS officer and the contractor.
Similarly, BSP state co-ordinator RS Praveen Kumar expressed that if the KCR government does not take any action against Rajat Kumar the integrity of the government will come under scrutiny. “The KCR government raids even small employees with the ACB (anti-Corruption Bureau) and Vigilance for their mistakes. If it does not take action on the serious allegations leveled against the Chief Secretary of Irrigation, we have to question the integrity of the KCR government,” tweeted Praveen Kumar, an IPS-officer-turned-politician.
Who sponsored the five-star wedding of Telangana's Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar's daughter?
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) January 27, 2022
Was it done as Quid pro quo?
https://t.co/VhD4I5hRWH 1/2
చిన్న ఉద్యోగులు తప్పులు చేస్తేనే ACB& Vigilance దాడులు చేసే KCR ప్రభుత్వం ఇప్పుడు ఏకంగా నీటిపారుదల ముఖ్య కార్యదర్శి పైనే వచ్చిన ఈ తీవ్ర అభియోగంపై చర్య తీసుకోకపోతే ఈ KCR ప్రభుత్వ చిత్తశుద్ధినే శంకించాల్సొస్తది. https://t.co/32nT1kiL0c
— Dr. RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) January 27, 2022
TNM’s Paul Oomen conducted an investigation into the lavish wedding of Rajat Kumar’s daughter, Anjali Kumar, which took place in December last year. The five-day gala affair which took place in hotels Taj Krishna, Taj Deccan and Taj Falaknuma, were coordinated by MEIL executives. MEIL executives oversaw the arrangements for the event with booking and payments for the wedding celebrations.
The company’s executives used the company’s official email IDs for this purpose.
MEIL’s initial contract with the hotels was for around Rs 50 lakh. Information accessed by TNM shows that the invoices were asked to be raised in the name of two companies — Interactive Data Systems and BigWave Infra Private Limited. The directors of Interactive Data Systems are also on the boards of various MEIL companies.
The payment, an outstanding amount of Rs 23 lakh, was made by BigWave, documents revealed. During the course of investigation, we found that BigWave was created in June 2021. The company’s address led to a residential building in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura area. It was a shell company.
Responding to the involvement of MEIL executives in his daughter’s wedding, Rajat Kumar, the former State Election Commissioner, said “MEIL did not make any of the bookings or coordinate anything, I personally made all the bookings.” He also denied knowledge about BigWave company making the payments.
After the article was published, MEIL tried to distance itself from the controversy. In its response, it said that the companies mentioned in the article are not related to them. Further, the company said that activities done in a "personal capacity" cannot be attributed to the company. "MEIL is not responsible for the transactions that were flagged to us by your good self. We, as a company, are also not aware of any such transaction happening nor were we a party to any such thing. MEIL is in no way linked to the activity that you mentioned in your (TNM’s) email. An individual's alleged deeds cannot be attributed to the company," MEIL added.
"If anybody does an activity in his/her personal capacity, the same cannot be attributed to any company. MEIL is not responsible for the transactions that were flagged to us by your good self. We, as a company, are also not aware of any such transaction happening nor were we a party to any such thing," MEIL said.
Meanwhile, Congress also demanded an investigation to be taken up by Home Minister Amit Shah and Central Vigilance Commission. Congress national spokesperson Sravan Dasoju dubbed the event as a “classic case of illegal and immoral nexus between bureaucrats and crony capitalists.” And he further tagged Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Central Vigilance Commission and the Department of Personnel and Training, seeking action.
Classic case of illegal & immoral nexus between bureaucrats in #Telangana & crony capitalists..
— Prof Dasoju Srravan (@sravandasoju) January 27, 2022
Demand @AmitShah @CVCIndia @HMOIndia @DoPTGoI & @CBItweets 2take action against these manipulators@AICCMedia @INCIndia https://t.co/V7lyNyYubt
- https://t.co/I6LdeK60Ob
Read the full article: Exclusive: Top Telangana bureaucrat’s daughter’s wedding gala sponsored by mystery company?