HYDERABAD: BRS MLA and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao on Wednesday condemned the “baseless and misleading” statements Chief Minister
A Revanth Reddy made during a PowerPoint presentation on irrigation and water rights of Telangana He said that BRS would move a privilege motion in the Assembly and Council for not inviting BRS MLAs for the presentation.
Harish blamed the then Congress government’s role in agreeing to an unfair 299:512 ratio in Krishna water sharing before bifurcation of the state.
“This death warrant was written by your party. It was KCR’s government that secured Section 3 and submitted affidavits for 573 tmcft to the tribunal,” Harish said while refuting the statement of the CM.
In a statement issued here, Harish accused Revanth and his government of mortgaging Telangana’s rightful share of water resources and attempting to mislead people with fabricated data and staged presentations.
Responding to the PowerPoint presentation made by Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy earlier in the day, Harish said: “Revanth Reddy, your government deserves to be lashed for betraying Telangana’s water rights. No matter how many times we place facts before you, you continue with the same lies.”
Expressing outrage over the CM’s closed-door meeting with Congress legislators at Praja Bhavan, Harish said: “It is shameful that you lacked the courage to call for an open discussion and instead confined yourself to Praja Bhavan with your party representatives and defectors. This is a blatant insult to democratic values and a breach of legislative privileges”.
Harish said that the BRS would move a privilege motion in both the Legislative Assembly and the Council against this. While expressing displeasure over not inviting the BRS leaders to the power point presentation, Harish Rao said that it was a ‘mockery of democracy’.
‘Cong hiding the facts’
Harish alleged that the Congress leaders were deliberately hiding the facts about the Palamuru-Rangareddy project, which was set to irrigate 12.3 lakh acres across 70 mandals and 1,226 villages in Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Nalgonda, Rangareddy, and Vikarabad districts.
“You claimed that the Congress government in united Andhra Pradesh irrigated 50 lakh acres, which is an absolute lie. If you have the courage, show us the evidence. The reality is that BRS irrigated 48.74 lakh acres in just nine-and-a-half years. This is confirmed even in the Irrigation Department’s official reports given to you,” he said.
The former minister accused Revanth of sabotaging the Medigadda barrage. “You have been in power for 20 months. Why you haven’t repaired Medigadda despite NDSA’s recommendation and L&T’s readiness? Back then, you allowed Pranahita-Chevella to collapse. Now, you are letting Medigadda go to ruin. Do you care more about AP’s interests than those of Telangana?” he asked.
“Did NDSA recommend to allow vehicular movement over Medigadda barrage? If the structure was so unsafe, why the officials permitted vehicular traffic on the barrage? he asked and suggested that the CM stop misleading people with “selective expert opinions gathered in your Jubilee Hills palace instead of the Assembly”.