Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday termed the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, the flagship scheme of the BRS government in Telangana, the “ATM of KCR’s family”.
He made the remarks after visiting the Medigadda barrage. The barrage has come under scrutiny after six piers in its seventh block showed signs of damage and leakage.
Although Gandhi was supposed to travel to Medigadda by a chopper, he alleged that the state government did not give him the requisite permission. He then travelled to the site by road.

During his election campaign in Telangana, the Congress leader drew a parallel between the government run by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as one by “dorala” (feudal lords) and promised to bring in a “prajala” (people) government. He claimed Kaleshwaram stood for dorala government.

Gandhi toured the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) with Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy and pointed out the loopholes of the project in a social media post.
The Congress has often criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not investigating the corruption charges against its leaders.

“Kaleshwaram Project = KCR Family ATM. I visited the Medigadda barrage which is a part of the corruption ridden Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme in Telangana. Cracks have developed in multiple pillars because of shoddy corruption reports, indicating the pillars are sinking. KCR and his family are using the Kaleshwaram project as their personal ATM to plunder the people of Telangana,” he said.

To drive home his point, the Gandhi scion also campaigned with a fake ATM machine on Wednesday and claimed the Kaleshwaram project was built for Rs 1 lakh crore, but the construction was shoddy.
The BRS government has, however, denied the charge and said the construction cost of the project was much less.
Meanwhile, Congress workers from surrounding villages protested on Thursday demanding that they be allowed to visit the Medigadda barrage.
Gandhi also addressed a rally attended mostly by women at Ambatpally village in Manthani constituency. He promised to put the money looted by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) dispensation in the pockets of the people.
“The actual fight is between the BRS and the Congress, while the AIMIM and BJP are only helping the BRS,” he added.
Elections are slated in the southern state on November 30 and results will be announced on December 3.