Harish Rao dares Revanth Reddy to step down if Kaleshwaram operations aren’t resumed

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao accused the Congress of politicising the Kaleshwaram project for electoral gains in the upcoming Parliament elections

Hyderabad: Former Minister T Harish Rao on Wednesday challenged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to step down if he could not resolve the issues of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and instead hand over the Chief Minister’s post to him. He was more than willing to take up the challenge and resume the project operations, Harish Rao said.

“There is still scope for lifting water through Kaleshwaram project and supply water to avoid further trouble to farmers. Let Revanth Reddy resign from his post. If he is willing to extend support, I am ready to take it up and show him,” he said, pointing out that numerous projects like Kaddam, Yellampally, Satnala and even Polavaram taken up under the Congress regime, suffered damages, but the successive governments had taken up repair works to operationalise them.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan here on Wednesday, Harish Rao accused the Congress of politicising the Kaleshwaram project for electoral gains in the upcoming Parliament elections. He asserted that the Kaleshwaram project was a blessing for Telangana, notwithstanding the attempts of the Congress government to showcase it otherwise.

“If there are any issues with regard to the Medigadda barrage, let them probe and initiate action against those responsible. But it should not be a pretext to stop operations of the entire project and cause trouble to farmers under the ayacut,” he said.

The former Minister urged the government to differentiate between constructive criticism and baseless allegations, emphasising that Kaleshwaram was not limited to Medigadda alone. He called for a fair investigation into any construction defects and cautioned against unwarranted comments without proper evidence. He termed the government’s inaction in repairing Medigadda barrage as an act of political vendetta against the BRS to tarnish the latter’s image.

Dismissing claims that Kaleshwram project created only 98,000 acres of fresh ayacut, Harish Rao pointed out that Kaleshwaram had brought water to areas neglected during the earlier Congress regime. He pointed out the positive impact of the project on the Upper Manair Dam, which was overflowing even during the summer. He urged the Congress to focus on facts, citing the appreciation of Karnataka Congress MLAs for Mallanna Sagar, and questioned the silence of State Congress leaders on such instances.

“The Kaleshwaram project has benefited over 20 lakh acres of ayacut, ensuring overflowing of numerous linked projects, reservoirs, canals and tanks. Due to it, the paddy cultivation increased from 94 lakh tonnes during the Congress regime to three crore tonnes under the BRS rule,” he pointed out.