HYDERABAD: Continuing his attack on the BRS leadership, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday described former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as “Papala Bhairavudu” and said KCR would be remembered permanently as a “traitor of Telangana”.
Responding to the allegations of BRS leaders K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao that he was trying to erase KCR’s history, Revanth said, “How can I erase the history of KCR, who has a history of fake passports and cheating people with false promises? BRS leader R S Praveen Kumar himself said that KCR was accused in a fake currency case registered at Chikkadpally police station. How can all this history be erased?”
Addressing a Praja Palana–Pragati Bata public meeting at Parigi, the chief minister alleged that the previous BRS government had resorted to large-scale phone tapping. “They did not even spare judges, leaders of opposition parties, journalists and film actors. In the end, they even listened to conversations between husband and wife. Why should we not issue notices to KCR? What is wrong in issuing notices to those who committed wrongdoing?” he asked.
Appealing to voters to elect Congress candidates in the ongoing municipal elections, Revanth said voting for the BRS would be “like feeding milk to snakes”. “They have stomachs full of venom. Look at Harish Rao and a cobra. Both have similar qualities,” he remarked.
Reiterating that Godavari water would be brought to Chevella, Tandur, Parigi and Vikarabad, he alleged that the BRS government had shifted the Pranahita–Chevella project from Thummidihatti to Chinna Kaleshwaram–Medigadda. “Medigadda, Sundilla and Annaram barrages were built, but not a single drop of water was supplied to Manthani constituency. The Kaleshwaram project, constructed at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore, collapsed within three years,” he alleged.
‘Kaleshwaram project benefited only BRS leaders’
Revanth further claimed that while the Kaleshwaram project benefited BRS leaders, people were denied Godavari water. “Because of this project, KCR got a 1,000-acre farmhouse at Erravalli, KTR got one at Janwada, Harish Rao at Moinabad, Santosh Kumar amassed businesses worth thousands of crores and K Kavitha got a farmhouse at Shankarpally. But the people did not get Godavari water,” he alleged.
He said Congress governments in undivided Andhra Pradesh had spent hundreds of crores on the project, but after KCR became chief minister, reservoirs such as Kondapochammasagar, Mallannasagar and Ranganayakasagar were constructed in Medak district without supplying a single drop of water to Rangareddy district. “KCR himself said in the Assembly that 3,000 tmcft of Godavari water flows into the sea every year. If even 300 tmcft had been provided to Rangareddy district, 30 lakh acres could have received irrigation. KCR betrayed Rangareddy,” he said.
Revanth asked BRS MLA Sabita Indira Reddy to explain why Godavari water was not supplied to Rangareddy district and said she had no moral right to seek votes there.
Alleging that the BRS government failed to complete the Palamuru–Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), he questioned why a reservoir was not constructed at Laxmidevipally. He assured that his government would soon complete land acquisition for the reservoir and said, “In the next three years, Krishna water will be supplied to three lakh acres through the Makthal–Narayanapet Lift Irrigation Project.”
Targeting the BJP, Revanth said its leaders sought votes in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while failing to deliver locally.