Chandrababu Naidu conspiring to divert Godavari River water, says Jagadish Reddy

The BRS leader also pointed out that former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had already written to the Centre, clearly explaining how surplus water in Godavari River should be shared between the Telugu States.

Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior BRS MLA G Jagadish Reddy on Tuesday said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was conspiring to divert the waters of Godavari River and turn Telangana into a desert again. He feared that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s plans to hold talks with Chandrababu Naidu rather than seeking an Apex Council meeting might prove suicidal for Telangana.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Tuesday, Jagadish Reddy said taking advantage of his alliance with the BJP at the Centre, Naidu was pushing for allocation of 200 TMCft from Godavari River to Andhra Pradesh before the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted. He rubbished Naidu’s claims of a possible Godavari-Kaveri linkage a massive fraud, pointing out that Chhattisgarh has already objected to it.

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The former Minister criticised the Congress government in Telangana for its inaction and warned that if immediate corrective steps were not initiated, BRS would launch a people’s movement against the injustice. He asked the Congress government to explain the reasons for calling Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister for talks rather than putting pressure on the Centre for the Apex Council meeting.

He pointed out that former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had already written to the Centre, clearly explaining how surplus water in Godavari River should be shared between the Telugu States. He urged the Centre to intervene and protect Telangana’s interests. The eight BJP MPs who were representing the State in the Parliament, must take up the issue with their national leadership, added.

Jagadish Reddy warned that BRS would not stay silent if the State’s water rights were compromised. He urged people cutting across party lines to come together and fight unitedly to safeguard Telangana’s needs on the Godavari issue.

When asked about the recent controversy over a flexi banner which went viral on social media, the BRS MLA clarified that he was unaware of these banners threatening to kill his political opponents. He said Revanth Reddy and the Congress government were encouraging Andhra-style faction politics in Telangana.

“Revanth Reddy’s friends in Andhra Pradesh are behind the recent rise in political clashes,” he added.