Hyderabad: Former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao will chair a joint meeting with Bharat Rashtra Samithi Legislature Party (BRSLP) and the party’s state executive committee on December 19 at Telangana Bhavan to discuss Congress’s ‘negligence’ towards irrigation projects.
The BRS also plans to launch a public movement to protect the water rights of Telangana’s farmers, which the party claims are being siphoned off by Andhra Pradesh. The meeting assumes great significance as KCR, chief minister for the first nine years after Telangana’s formation, has not been much active since his party’s defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
In an X post, the BRS party stated that while they allocated 91 TMC of Krishna water for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project, Congress has now compromised before the Centre, saying just 45 TMC is enough.
“State Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy agreeing to 45 TMC and returning empty-handed from the Centre is nothing but sabotaging the interests of the state’s farmers. The Congress government’s stance is committing a grave injustice to the state.” BRS stated.
It also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “keeping silent” when Telangana’s interests are being harmed. “Even with 8 BJP MPs from Telangana state present, not a single one has spoken up,” the post said. KCR has said that direct public struggles are now the only option for Telangana as the BJP continues to support water diversion to Andhra Pradesh under the guise of river-linking projects.
He said that if BRS had returned to power, water would have already reached farmers through the Palamuru Lift Irrigation Project, protecting the interests of farmers in Palamuru, Rangareddy, and Nalgonda.
In view of this, KCR will hold a part meeting on December 19 and decide on the structure of public movements to be undertaken to fight for Telangana’s water allocation.
