Telangana Assembly session: Heated argument between BRS, Congress over rains

The Congress MLAs were cornered by the Ministers who accused them of misleading the public with inaccurate figures regarding the losses incurred due to the heavy rainfall.

Hyderabad: Heated arguments were witnessed between members of the ruling BRS and the Congress during a discussion in the Assembly on the recent heavy rains and measures taken by the State government. The Congress MLAs were cornered by the Ministers who accused them of misleading the public with inaccurate figures regarding the losses incurred due to the heavy rainfall.

The Ministers also demanded an apology from the Congress legislators for the remarks made by TPCC president A Revanth Reddy, who suggested that a three-hour power supply for the agriculture sector would be sufficient. His remarks drew strong criticism and intensified the already tense debate in the Assembly.

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During the discussion, Congress MLA D Sridhar Babu cited media reports stating that crop losses were estimated in more than 15 lakh acres due to the torrential downpour. However, Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao raised objections and questioned the authenticity of the Congress party’s estimates. He said official estimation of crop losses was still underway and questioned the basis for the Congress member’s allegations.

Amidst these arguments, Sridhar Babu tried to defend his statements and said he was only trying to cite media reports as well as his own estimations during field visits in his Manthani consituency. The Minister intervened and insisted that an apology from the Congress party for Revanth Reddy’s comments on free electricity must be offered before allowing the discussion to proceed.

The discussion further intensified after Congress Legislative Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka intervened, drawing attention to his party’s MLAs’ visit to flood-affected areas and accusing the Ministers of preventing Sridhar Babu from expressing his views fully. He criticised the government’s handling of relief funds and alleged that the construction of checkdams was not done scientifically.

Irked over this, Ministers V Prashanth Reddy and T Harish Rao swiftly countered the Congress’s claims. They said the State government took all measures for rescue and relief of the flood-affected families. He reminded that while one Congress leader finds uninterrupted power supply unnecessary, another Congress leader wanted to cancel the Dharani website. He demanded the Congress party to spell out its stand.

Meanwhile, Minister Harish Rao said that people would support the BRS if they want check dams and the Congress, if they don’t. As the arguments intensified, the Speaker intervened to restore order and directed them to continue the discussion.