BRS hits back at Congress, targets Revanth, Uttam over power, water crisis claims

The BRS on Saturday accused the Congress government in Telangana of failing to take timely measures to tackle the impact of El Nino and then attempting to shift blame to the previous regime for the ongoing power and water shortages. Former Energy Minister G Jagadishwar Reddy defended the BRS government's record on power management and rejected the Congress government's criticism of the Yadadri thermal power plant and electricity procurement policies.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) hit back at the Congress government for blaming its predecessor for the power and water crises in Telangana. The party accused the ruling party of using political manoeuvres to divert public attention and cover up its failures.

Former Energy Minister G Jagadishwar Reddy said experts had been warning the State government about the impact of El Nino for the past nine months. Several countries and States had taken proactive measures in anticipation of the weather phenomenon. However, the Congress government had failed to take contingency measures, he said at a press conference here on Saturday.

---

He said criticism of BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao and the previous BRS government would not resolve the problems.

He also accused the Ministers of making cheap and nonsensical remarks by blaming the BRS for the El Nino crisis. “Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, K Chandrashekhar Rao ensured uninterrupted power and water supply,” Jagadishwar Reddy said.

He accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of making false claims about electricity availability and prices in the market. Jagadishwar Reddy said Revanth Reddy had made baseless and irresponsible claims that power could not be purchased even at Rs.15 per unit. He said electricity prices had ranged from Rs. 3.97 to Rs. 6.74 per unit even last week. After 10 pm, power was available at Rs.1.90 per unit, he added.

Pointing out that electricity prices fluctuated, the former Energy Minister said the Congress government should have monitored the market and purchased power at the right time. He said this was the approach followed by BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao in the past.

Jagadishwar Reddy also criticised the Congress government over its arguments concerning the Yadadri thermal power plant. Countering the government’s claim that the Yadadri plant was located in a region without coal reserves, he asked why power plants had been established in Vijayawada and Kadapa, which also lacked local coal resources.

He said the Yadadri power plant was less than 250 km from Singareni. In comparison, the distance from Singareni to Vijayawada was more than 530 km. The distance from Mahanadi Coalfields to Vijayawada exceeded 1,200 km, while the distance to Kadapa was more than 1,500 km, he said.

Jagadishwar Reddy said K Chandrashekhar Rao had envisaged the Yadadri plant to promote development in a backward region. He questioned why the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) had been established in Hyderabad, asking whether they could not have been set up in Delhi instead.

“Revanth Reddy set aside the interests of his home district Palamuru and allowed River Krishna water to be diverted 700 kilometres away to Kuppam for Chandrababu’s benefit,” Jagadishwar Reddy charged.

He further accused Congress leaders of focusing on collecting “commissions” instead of addressing the challenges posed by El Nino. He said the government had repeated the same arguments for the past three years without taking any measures to provide relief to the public.