At a time when chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was racking his brains on how to counter the attacks of the opposition during the monsoon session of the Assembly which begins on Monday, his colleague in the state cabinet, health minister DL Ravindra Reddy, put the chief minister in a tight spot on Sunday by sending a missive with fiery words against the functioning of the state government. Ravindra Reddy, a vociferous critic of Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Sunday wrote a letter to the chief minister by openly expressing his displeasure over the state government’s “indecisiveness in releasing water from the KC canal”.
According to the contents of the letter, Ravindra Reddy was not able to understand why the chief minister had not made any policy announcement regarding release of water from KC Canal, which is the lifeline to the farmers of Kadapa district.
However, the executive engineer concerned has already made a public statement that water would be released from KC canal to serve the irrigation needs of agricultural fields in Kadapa district. Believing the engineer’s assurance, several farmers in Kadapa district had sown paddy seeds in nursery beds, he said.
“But, now it is learnt that the government has no plans to release water from KC canal to Kadapa agricultural fields. The reason is that the chief minister has not yet given his nod for releasing water. The state government’s indifferent attitude towards this issue, is leaving thousands of farmers in Kadapa district in the lurch. ``Is there any elected government in the state?” Ravindra Reddy fumed.
The minister further wanted to know why he, being the minister from Kadapa district, had not been consulted before the executive engineer made the statement on release of water. Ravindra Reddy has been publicly criticising the functioning of the chief minister for several months.
Just a day ago, another minister and Chiranjeevi’s close aide C. Ramachandraiah had fired salvos at his own government. Ramachandraiah did not approve of the Union government’s decision of increasing the diesel price. He even criticised the Centre for its proposal to cap the quota.