HYDERABAD: The BRS is fine-tuning plans to make a lasting impact on the citizens while rebutting the claims of the ruling Congress that the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao government had initiated the Musi Riverfront Development Project, thus killing two birds with one stone.
If the grapevine is to be believed, the pink party is preparing a PowerPoint presentation which it plans to make public in the next two to three days. This PowerPoint presentation, sources say, will not only rebut the charges being levelled by Congress leaders against the BRS, but would also portray the pink party as the saviour of the Musi oustees.
Initially, the PowerPoint presentation was conceived as a response to IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu making public the official documents related to the Musi project prepared by the previous BRS government. Sources in the BRS said that though the party had conceived the Musi project when in power, KCR anticipated that it would create political trouble and decided to put it on the back-burner.
The party leadership now feels that the handling of the issue by BRS leaders, particularly former minister KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao, has given it a much-needed shot in the arm.
Rama Rao, the BRS working president, held a meeting on Wednesday with senior party leaders and discussed the PowerPoint presentation. During the meeting, the senior leaders insisted that Rama Rao make the presentation in front of a gathering of common citizens and Musi project oustees and not in the party office. However, the BRS leadership was yet to make a decision on the matter.
The BRS leadership is keen to convert the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Musi project into a political movement by standing alongside the evictees and residents of Musi catchment areas.
Recently, Harish Rao and Rama Rao visited the Musi catchment areas and interacted with the residents. The BRS leaders assess that their visit caused significant political impact in the state and has brought political mileage. With this, the BRS leadership wants Harish Rao and Rama Rao to make more such visits.
It is evident from 2023 Assembly election results that the BRS has a formidable presence in Hyderabad city, but not in the Old City, where the significant Musi catchment area falls. The Old City remains the bastion of the AIMIM, but the green party leadership is more or less silent over the Musi project. This, the BRS leadership believes, is the right time to breach the AIMIM’s stronghold.
