Hyderabad : Stating that the much-trumpeted “Amma Hastam” was launched for only publicity on the eve of elections by the Kiran Kumar Reddy government and would not be beneficial to the masses, State BJP president G. Kishan Reddy accused the Chief Minister of wasting colossal public money for the sake of commissions.

Speaking to the media in the State party office here on Monday, Kishan Reddy dubbed the Amma Hastam as “Rikta Hastam” (Empty Hand). Alleging that the nine commodities being supplied by the government to the poor under the scheme were substandard and worth only Rs 210 in the market, he said the scheme was launched only to benefit the middlemen and to pocket commissions. He also alleged that the government was falsely claiming that the nine commodities packet worth Rs 292 was being sold for Rs 185 for the poor. But, in fact, the government was supplying poor quality of commodities for the sake of commissions, he added.

The BJP leader also asked the government whether pictures of chief minister and Civil Supplies minister on colorful packets of commodities necessary. Alleging that the government was spending Rs 12 on each packet for printing these pictures, he asked the Chief Minister whether this wasteful expenditure was necessary. Accusing the Chief Minister of having obsession for publicity blitzkrieg, he demanded that the former convene an all-party meeting to discuss corruption and irregularities in the scheme immediately.

Stating that they would distribute the nine commodities packet for Rs 100, he dared the Chief Minister to hand over the scheme to his party or bring down the price to Rs 100 by shunning colourful publicity bag.

Kishan Reddy said his party would hold Telangana Udyama committee meeting on May 14 under chairmanship of Rajeshwara Rao to discuss about continuing agitation and formulate strategy. All the Telangana districts’ presidents, general secretaries and committee representatives would be attending, he added. He also said the State party executive will meet on May 17 to discuss the latest political developments and to formulate suitable strategies.