No Siddipet railway line without KCR, Telangana paid Rs 640 Cr, says Harish Rao

SIDDIPET: “Telangana Government paid its share for the laying of the railway line to Siddipet, the BJP can't claim it as its own project,” said Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao flagging off the inaugural train from the Siddipet Railway Station on Tuesday.

Calling the railway line a dream fulfilled for the people of the region, he said that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao personally designed the railway line. “The line was sanctioned in 2006 but no Chief Minister ever took initiative in the completion of the project,” he said.

When the project was taking shape, Telangana was asked to share 33 percent of the project cost, Harish Rao said. “Even after contributing to the project cost, the Railways did not even print KCR’s picture on any invitation,” he said.

The Telangana Government granted Rs 310 crore for the acquisition of 2,508 acres for the railway line and paid Rs 330 crore as its share, the Finance Minister said. “After all that we have done, the Centre claims all the credit,” he rued, adding that both the Congress and the BJP have cheated the people of Telangana by making false promises.