KCR questions silence of Congress, BJP on Modi’s plans to divert Godavari
"Now, Modi is conspiring to divert water at Itchampalli. Though he made a proposal during my tenure, I categorically rejected it," he said.
Khammam: Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conspiring to take Godavari River water to other States at the cost of Telangana’s interests, Leader of Opposition and BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao questioned the silence of Parliament members from the BJP and the Congress on the issue.
He demanded Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to spell out his stance on the issue.
Cautioning the people against supporting the Congress and the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, he urged them to elect BRS candidates to fight with the Centre to safeguard the State’s interests.
Participating in a roadshow at Dr BR Amebdkar junction near Khammam Zilla Parishad on Monday, Chandrashekhar Rao said the Centre had sent a communication to the State government recently on diverting Godavari water to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu from Telangana, but, the Congress government was keeping quiet on it.
“Neither the BJP nor the Congress MPs nor the Chief Minister have raised the concerns of people of Telangana on the issue till date. Why do we need such useless leaders who cannot fight for us?” he asked.
The BRS president pointed out that Godavari River was a lifeline for Telangana. Whenever water levels deplete in Krishna River, the farmers were suffering due to lack of irrigation water.
To end their problems permanently, he said the previous BRS government took up construction of the Sitarama project at Dummugudem with 37 TMC and irrigate erstwhile Khammam district. “Now, Modi is conspiring to divert water at Itchampalli.
Though he made a proposal during my tenure, I categorically rejected it,” he said, adding that both the Congress and the BJP leaders only wanted votes and posts, and were not bothered about people’s woes.
The former Chief Minister also slammed the State government for trying to mislead the people on the power and water shortage in the State.
Citing the day’s developments on the Osmania University campus, where the chief warden was issued a showcause notice for issuing a circular stating that the hostels would be closed due to water and power shortage, Chandrashekhar Rao said he had himself raised the issue on multiple occasions, including on the power supply disruption during a visit to V Srinivas Goud’s residence in Mahabubnagar.
However, Energy Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was vehemently denying a power shortage. Earlier, the former Chief Minister lashed out at the BJP-led Central government for not extending support to address farmers problems in the State.
He reminded that under the BRS regime, Telangana produced over 3.5 crore tonnes of paddy competing with Punjab. When BRS MPs led by Nama Nageswara Rao approached the Centre to purchase broken rice produced during the Yasangi (Rabi) crop, he said the union Minister concerned advised them to habituate people of Telangana to eat broken rice.
“In protest against his remarks, the entire State Cabinet along with MPs, MLAs and MLCs staged protest in Delhi, demanding the Centre to procure the broken rice. But none of the BJP or the Congress MPs extended solidarity or even raised the issue in the Parliament,” he added.
With neither the BJP nor the Congress likely to get clear majority, Chandrashekhar Rao said a hung parliament was anticipated at the Centre and with 10-12 seats in its kitty, the BRS could play a vital role in the national politics after the Lok Sabha elections. He said Khammam MP candidate Nama Nageswara Rao might even become a union Minister in such circumstances and resolve the issues plaguing farmers of Telangana.
The former Chief Minister remembered that the Congress leaders in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh were confined to sloganeering about people’s welfare and the real welfare had begun only after NT Rama Rao came to power. “People could eat food and got access to pucca houses due to the great leader.
This is history and none can change it,” he asserted. The BRS had only outperformed his government, after Telangana formation. Chandrashekhar Rao said the Congress was least bothered about development or welfare of people of Telangana.
He reminded that while the previous BRS government supplied water even when water levels reached 495 TMC, the Congress government was failing to provide irrigation water when the water level was at 510 TMC. “Farmers also did not receive Rythu Bandhu, irrigation water and uninterrupted power supply. Such is the Congress government’s inefficiency,” he said.
