Revanth tries to politicise all party meet on Banakacharla; BRS walks out

Revanth Reddy's live telecast became the subject of online ridicule after he was seen publicly asking officials whether Banakacharla was in the Godavari or Krishna basin.

Hyderabad: BRS staged a walkout from the all-party MPs meeting convened by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday to discuss the Godavari-Banakacharla linkage. BRS Rajya Sabha MP and deputy parliamentary party leader Vaddiraju Ravichandra, representing the party, walked out in protest, charging the Chief Minister with distorting facts and politicising a critical water-sharing issue.

Tensions peaked when Revanth Reddy, presenting the State’s official stand on the Godavari-to-Krishna river diversion, appeared to shift blame for the Banakacharla impasse onto the former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. Citing post-bifurcation meetings held in 2016 and 2019 between the then Chief Ministers of both the Telugu States, Revanth Reddy alleged that the BRS was responsible for the stalemate.

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However, Ravichandra objected to the remark, stating that the previous government only pursued inter-State cooperation in Telangana’s interest, not the narrative being peddled by the Chief Minister.

“This is not a political platform, but an official meeting. We came to cooperate, not be insulted. KCR suggested water diversion from Godavari River to Krishna River via Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar for Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar farmers. But this government attributing it conveniently to the Polavaram-Banakacharla linkage is misleading,” Ravichandra said before walking out.

Adding to the embarrassment for the Congress, Revanth Reddy’s live telecast became the subject of online ridicule. His confusion over river basins, publicly asking officials whether Banakacharla was in the Godavari or Krishna basin, whether Devadula was a Godavari project, and whether Nallamala lay in Telangana or Andhra Pradesh, triggered widespread ridicule across social media.

Furthermore, Revanth Reddy’s claim that Andhra Pradesh was using old minutes of meetings as a “trap” to complete the Banakacharla project also backfired. Critics argued that his assurance that the government would first take it up with the Centre politically and later, fight the matter legally, indicated his lack of seriousness on the issue.