Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday fired at the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leadership on the party’s alleged wrongdoings into irrigation projects in the state.
He said that the BRS is blaming Congress for its wrongdoings during its ten-year regime and challenged former chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, former ministers T Harish Rao and K T Rama Rao and MLC K Kavitha for a debate in a joint session of the state Assembly and the Council, over the burning issue of the state government “handing over projects” on the Krishna river to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
The chief minister said that he, along with irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, will debate the BRS “Raos” over the subject.
‘KCR, Harish lying’
“KCR and Harish Rao have been lying about the Congress government. KCR, back in the day, stated that the Centre devised every word of the bifurcation Act based on what he asked for. Now, the BRS is trying to pin blame on the Congress for its wrongdoings. Projects on the Krishna and the Godavari rivers were divided between Telangana, and AP based on the Act,” he said, addressing a press conference on Sunday, February 4.
Speaking further, Revanth said that the Centre formed a committee to decide on 811 TMC Krishna water sharing between the states, which gave on 512 TMC to Andhra Pradesh and 299 TMC to Telangana.
“KCR and his officials agreed to the decision and signed the papers and made sure that Andhra Pradesh gets more water. In 2022, they agreed to the allocation of 15 projects on Krishna to the Centre. They also allocated Rs 400 crores in the budget for the KRMB and the GRMB in the 2023 budget,” he said.
He stated that KCR did not raise any questions in the Parliament about the projects when the bifurcation Bill was set in motion.
“Now, BRS is insisting on a 50% share in water from the Krishna River….These projects were given to the Centre when KCR and Harish Rao were at the helm of affairs,” he added.
‘Most negligence during KCR’s regime’
Stating that KCR “surrendered” to the pressure put by former chief ministers YS Rajashekhar Reddy, N Chandrababu Naidu and current AP chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and gave away the “dominance” of Telangana on Krishna river projects.
“Jagan made a plan to transfer 8 TMCs of water to AP per day and KCR permitted it by issuing a G.O. on May 5, 2022. Muchumarri project was built during N Chandrababu Naidu’s regime and they tried to transfer water at 800 feet. KCR surrendered to the water theft in exchange for positions and commissions. He neglected SLBC and Kalvakurthy projects,” he alleged.
Revanth said that the completion of the Palamuru Rangareddy project would have irrigated 10 lakh acres of agricultural land. “More injustice happened during KCR’s rule than in erstwhile AP,” he added.
Telangana’s views wrongly represented in KRMB meet: Revanth
Speaking further, Revanth said that the state government’s views were “wrongly represented” in the recently held KRMB meeting and that the government issued a clarification.
“Our officials wrote to the Centre on the issue, clarifying our stance. We are fighting for Telangana’s cause. KCR is deceiving people as he is unable to show his face to the public after the election loss. He didn’t utter a single word when AP chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy used force to take over the Nagarjunasagar dam…our government will issue a White Paper on the issue,” he said.
