BRS intensifies stir against CBI probe into Kaleshwaram project

For the second day, the BRS held statewide protests alleging a Congress-BJP conspiracy to malign K. Chandrashekhar Rao and the Kaleshwaram project. Effigies were burnt, roads blocked and rallies staged, as leaders slammed the CBI probe as politically motivated

Hyderabad: For the second consecutive day on Tuesday, the BRS staged massive statewide protests against what the party called a Congress-BJP conspiracy to defame party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and undermine the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. The agitation followed BRS working president KT Rama Rao’s call for statewide protests against the CBI probe, with leaders warning that Congress’ actions were aimed at weakening Telangana’s lifeline and discrediting Chandrashekhar Rao, but no action was initiated to safeguard farmers’ interests.

From Hyderabad to Adilabad, Nagarkurnool to Mahabubabad, the BRS ranks hit the streets, burning effigies of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, blocking roads, staging dharnas and rallies. They raised slogans against the Congress government over its decision to hand over the Kaleshwaram project issue to the CBI and putting Telangana farmers’ future in jeopardy.

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At Balapur junction in Maheshwaram, former Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy garlanded the statue of Prof K Jayashankar before leading a protest. In Chevella, Ibrahimpatnam, Uppal and Mulugu, cadres staged ‘rasta rokos’ and sit-ins, while in Gadwal and Shadnagar, protesters raised slogans of “Khabardar Revanth Reddy”.

In Nagarkurnool, former Ministers V Srinivas Goud and former MLA Marri Janardhan Reddy accused the Congress of conspiring with AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to divert Godavari waters to Andhra Pradesh. In Mahabubabad, protests turned tense when BRS workers blocked Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha’s convoy. Similar scenes played out in Adilabad where former Minister Jogu Ramanna led a rally before burning the Chief Minister’s effigy.

BRS leaders said the CBI probe was politically motivated and amounted to an insult to Telangana farmers who benefited from the Kaleshwaram project. Former MP Maloth Kavitha and former Minister Satyavathi Rathod in Mahabubabad, and MLA Bandari Lakshma Reddy in Uppal, condemned the misuse of central agencies to target the opposition.

The protests also saw symbolic acts where activists cleansed Telangana Martyrs’ Memorials with Kaleshwaram water, unfurled a 100-metre banner on Ranganayaka Sagar, and staged black flag rallies in Madhira.