HYDERABAD: Asserting that his government had no plans either to scrap free power supply to farmers or install smart meters on agricultural pump sets, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday challenged the BRS leadership to stake its political future on the issue.
He dared the BRS to announce that it would not contest the next elections if the Congress government neither withdrew free power nor installed meters on farm pump sets. He said the Congress, too, would not contest the elections if it went back on free power or introduced meters.
During an informal interaction with reporters at the MCRHRD, the chief minister stated that the Congress holds the “patent to the free power scheme”. He said the proposed Rythu Discom was aimed at bringing transparency to power distribution.
‘Lift paddy by June 15...’
The chief minister warned that if the Centre failed to procure paddy by June 15 and other crops, including maize purchased by the state government, the produce would be dumped in front of the residences of BJP and BRS leaders.
He also demanded that the Centre procure all crops for which it announces MSP.
Revanth alleged that the previous BRS government had initiated the installation of smart meters. He said the then government signed an agreement with the Centre in 2017 and installed 29,632 smart meters during 2017-18. Rejecting claims that the Centre had imposed any condition on the state regarding smart meters, he accused former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of spreading misinformation for political gain.
Revanth also blamed the previous BRS regime for the poor financial health of Telangana’s power utilities.
He said that at the time of Telangana’s formation, TGNPDCL and TGSPDCL ranked among the better-performing Discoms in the country, but slipped to near the bottom during the BRS regime due to financial indiscipline, mounting debt, non-collection of bills, pending government dues and organisational lapses. According to him, the two utilities accumulated losses of around `70,000 crore.
Rythu Discom will bring transparency, ease burden: CM
Explaining the rationale behind the proposed Rythu Discom, Revanth said there was currently little clarity on power procurement and supply for agriculture, irrigation projects, HMWSSB schemes and other subsidised sectors.
He said Discoms were charging around `10 per unit for such supplies without properly accounting for peak and non-peak demand patterns, increasing the burden on the government.
Pointing to surplus renewable energy available during non-peak hours at very low prices, and sometimes even free of cost in the open market, he said his government intended to utilise this power through the new Rythu Discom.
He expressed confidence that the move would improve the financial position of the utilities and help restore their rankings. The government, he added, would pay the Rythu Discom’s dues on the first day of every month.
Revanth also said power consumption in the state had risen from about 15,000 MW when the Congress assumed office to nearly 18,000 MW now.
‘Cheating in KCR family DNA’
Revanth alleged that “cheating and blackmailing are in the DNA of KCR’s family” and accused its members of misleading the public and exploiting Telangana’s resources.
Referring to the CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy, he alleged that Globarena, the company linked to the portal, was a benami firm of BRS working president KT Rama Rao.
“That is the reason BRS is not responding,” he said.
He questioned why Rama Rao and T Harish Rao had not sought a Union government probe into Globarena’s role in processing CBSE examination results.
Revanth said the state government had repeatedly sought an appointment with the CBI director to press for investigations into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project and Power Purchase Agreements, but had not been granted time.
He also said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had not given Telangana an appointment to discuss the proposed Tummidihatti project.
The chief minister urged Union Minister G Kishan Reddy to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He questioned why the Centre could not facilitate the transfer of 1,000 acres of submergence land from Maharashtra to Telangana when seven mandals had earlier been transferred from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh for the Polavaram project.
Harish will leave BRS, predicts Revanth
Responding to BRS criticism of the installation of an NTR statue at Ameerpet, Revanth asked why BRS leaders had remained silent when former minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar installed an NTR statue in Khammam.
Turning to Harish Rao, he challenged him to publicly declare that he would remain in the BRS and not switch parties.
“I have complete information on whom Harish Rao is speaking to and holding discussions with. But it is not ethical to disclose personal matters,” he said.
On his relationship with Telangana PCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud, the chief minister described their partnership as a successful combination.
He said the Congress returned to power when he was PCC president and Mahesh was working president, and later won byelections and panchayat polls with him as chief minister and Mahesh as PCC president.
Revanth expressed confidence that the Congress would retain power in the 2029 Assembly elections.