Telangana Congress president, A. Revanth Reddy has placed the blame on Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for the ongoing water dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana stating that the CM had ‘deliberately’ stayed away from Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) meetings.
Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, he reminded that despite pleas from the Congress party and other irrigation experts the Chief Minister chose to ignore the issue totally before being forced to act due to intervention from the Court case.
He said both CM KCR and then Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao had agreed in New Delhi for 299 TMC usage for Telangana and 512 TMC for Andhra Pradesh for one year. However, they continued the same usage for the next five years without even discussing the new allotment for the new State.
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Mr. Reddy alleged that the GO 203 of the Andhra Pradesh government for the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation project had the full backing of KCR as both KCR and Jaganmohan Reddy indulged in lunch diplomacy in the Pragati Bhavan right after the project was announced in the A.P. Assembly. The GO desires to take three TMC for the project every day from the Krishna basin.
He said Mr. KCR did not even react to the AP Chief Minister’s grand plans for the project during their meeting or later. However, Congress leader and former Minister Nagam Janardhan Reddy had written a letter to CM KCR highlighting how South Telangana would turn into a desert forever if the A.P. project goes ahead and the need to stop it immediately. But there was only silence from KCR, he claimed.
Accusing the CM of following a hidden agenda, the Congress leader also claimed that the TS government agreed to 299 TMC in the KRMB meeting on Wednesday. “Where are the Ministers from South Telangana who made grand announcements seeking 50% share,” he asked. “Perhaps the CM is busy with the dinner hosted at Nama Ngeshwar Rao’s house in New Delhi,” he said sarcastically.
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The TPCC chief said that, as his wont, KCR is trying to divert the issue to the power generation after failing to protect the water share of Telangana. Moreover, the government is raising issues that were not in the KRMB purview to create confusion.
Attacking the BJP State president Bandi Sanjay, he asked the party’s stand on Krishna waters. The padayatra of Mr. Sanjay would not yield anything as both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR were working together for their mutual interests.
Tributes paid to YSR
Earlier, Mr. Reddy along with senior leaders Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Mohd Shabbir Ali, KVP Ramchander Rao paid rich tributes to the contribution of late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy on his death anniversary. He said YSR desired to make Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister of the country and he would strive for the same.