KTR questions Congress govt’s ill-preparedness to mitigate El Nino challenges

BRS working president KT Rama Rao accused the Congress government of failing to prepare for El Nino despite advance warnings. He alleged negligence in irrigation management, criticised the handling of Kaleshwaram, questioned government job claims and attacked the implementation of election promises

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao questioned the Congress government over its lack of preparedness to mitigate the challenges posed by El Nino, despite scientists warning about them months in advance. He said reservoirs had slipped into dead storage levels while the Congress government remained in cold storage (inactive), leaving farmers to bear the brunt of the crisis.

“If only this government had operated the Kannepalli pumphouse, it could have filled the Nizam Sagar project within two days. But the ruling Congress remained insensitive towards farmers,” he said.

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Addressing party workers at Telangana Bhavan after welcoming Banswada-based businessman Moril Srinivas into the BRS on Monday, Rama Rao criticised Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for refusing to utilise water from the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme despite water being available. He questioned why the government was not operating the Kannepalli pumphouse to supply water to drought-hit regions, alleging that the water was instead being allowed to flow downstream.

He accused the government of politicising the Kaleshwaram project instead of repairing the damaged Medigadda barrage to divert attention from its inefficiency. Pointing out that only two piers had suffered damage, he asked why repairs had not been completed even after 31 months.

Rama Rao pointed out that farmers were facing shortages of urea, erratic power supply, procurement issues and inadequate irrigation, with agriculture slipping into crisis under the Congress government. He alleged that the government was deliberately not lifting water and supplying it to agricultural lands to discourage cultivation and avoid the need to provide urea, power supply and crop procurement.

The BRS working president stated that the Congress government had failed farmers, youth and other sections while making false promises on jobs and welfare. He said the Congress had failed to fulfil its election promises, including providing two lakh government jobs, and challenged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to substantiate the claim that his government had filled 70,000 jobs. He said the BRS government had completed the recruitment process, but the Congress was taking credit by issuing appointment letters.

He also accused the Congress government of failing to implement its six guarantees, including loan waiver, financial assistance for women, enhanced pensions and employment commitments.

Stepping up his attack on former Speaker and Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, who defected to the ruling Congress after winning on a BRS ticket, Rama Rao said the former had betrayed the trust of Banswada voters and gone back on his commitment to remain in the party. He urged party workers to make defeating Pocharam Srinivas Reddy their primary objective whenever elections are held.

He stated that the induction of Moril Srinivas and others into the party fold indicated the growing strength of the BRS in Banswada and expressed confidence that the party would regain the constituency in the next election.