Harish Rao tears into Revanth Reddy for betraying Palamuru

BRS leader Harish Rao slams the Revanth Reddy government for neglecting the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project and compromising Krishna water sharing. He demanded restoration of 90 TMC allocation, accused the Chief Minister of betrayal and announced meetings to expose the government

Hyderabad: BRS senior leader T Harish Rao slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his Congress government for what he termed as “slitting the throat of Palamuru region” by failing to act on the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project (PRLIP) despite multiple clearances being obtained and major components of the works on the project being completed during the BRS regime.

Talking to the media persons at Telangana Bhavan, he accused the Congress government of settling for just 45 TMC of water allocation for the project and demanded accountability for the injustice meted out to the Palamuru, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts.

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Rao said the BRS government had completed 90 percent of the works, including running pumps at Narlapur in September 2023. The K Chandrashekhar Rao government had filled even PRLIS reservoirs like Narlapur with 4 TMC storage. He challenged the government to show what it had done in the last two years. “If BRS was in power, Kodangal and Narayanpet farmers would have been washing their feet in Krish

na waters by now,” he said. He accused Revanth of “cutting Palamuru’s throat” despite claiming to be a son of Palamuru soil.

On the issue of Krishna water sharing in the 299:512 ratio, Rao blamed Congress for the “historic betrayal” during the united Andhra Pradesh era, attributing it to the 2013 report submitted to the Justice Srikrishna Committee. Hailing BRS leader K Chandrashekhar Rao for demanding a new tribunal in July 2014 and securing Section 3, he questioned why the BRS, which had been fighting for a fair deal, would accept any injustice in river water sharing. Rao said the Congress government’s demand for a 50:50 agreement was based on what the BRS had been demanding earlier.

Stating that the BRS government had created 17.24 lakh acres of new ayacut and stabilised 31.50 lakh acres from 2014 to 2023, totalling 48.74 lakh acres, he questioned the government’s budget promises of over 11 lakh acres in the first two years. He questioned whether the Congress government could provide water to even 11,000 acres and asked the Chief Minister to apologise to Telangana society. He accused the administration of demolishing check dams and irrigation projects and called Revanth the “real terrorist” for such actions. He also criticised the handling of the SLBC tunnel collapse where even bodies could not be retrieved.

On Krishna waters, Rao said Andhra Pradesh was diverting over 650 TMC against its 512 TMC share, including drawing 10,000 cusecs daily from the Sagar Right Canal, while Telangana remained silent. He accused Congress of historically undermining projects like Kalwakurthy, Bhima, Nettempadu and Koilsagar, and contrasted this with BRS expansions which brought over 6.5 lakh acres under irrigation in these projects alone and 10 lakh acres in Palamuru region overall. Rao also attacked Revanth personally, calling him opportunistic for changing parties frequently, lacking principles and being involved in a bribery case. “Even a chameleon would be ashamed seeing you,” he said, contrasting the BRS “history of sacrifices” with Congress “backstabbing”. Rao demanded that the government withdraw the 45 TMC letter, apologise and fight for 90 TMC to protect Telangana’s water rights.

“BRS chief would not spare the Congress for its betrayal. He would hold meetings in Palamuru, Nalgonda and Rangareddy to expose the government,” he warned. He demanded issue-based discussions instead of “cheap talk”. While former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao spoke like a statesman with a Himalayan mindset, Revanth behaved like a street rowdy with cheap talk, Rao said. Revanth’s frustration had exposed him as a “traitor” to Telangana. Rao pointed out the government’s failure to increase pensions despite two years in power and questioned the status of the promised Rs 2,500 under the Mahalakshmi scheme.

He stated that Telangana had topped paddy production with 258 lakh metric tonnes in 2022-23 and recorded a procurement of 141 lakh metric tonnes in 2020-21. He credited projects like Kaleshwaram for enabling paddy cultivation under Mallannasagar, Ranganayak Sagar and Ananthagiri, and said water use depended on rainfall and availability from different sources.