Water, power supply take centre stage in LS poll discussions

Chandrashekhar Rao's assertive stance during his recent visit to Nalgonda, Suryapet and Jangaon districts caused a stir within the ruling party, prompting heated exchanges over responsibility for the crisis.

Hyderabad: As Telangana braces for the Lok Sabha elections on May 13, the looming agrarian crisis due to lack of water and power supply, threatens to sway the political scenario in Telangana.

While the ruling Congress is struggling to address the issue, the main opposition BRS is going all guns blazing against the former over its inefficiency to resolve the pressing needs of people compared to the previous K Chandrashekhar Rao government.

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With the agriculture department officials yet to quantify the losses suffered by farmers, the impact of this crisis on voters cannot be overstated.

Except for blaming the nature and holding the previous BRS government over the sinking of piers at Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the Congress-led government could not initiate any concrete measures to address the water crisis before the election code came into force.

Similar situation prevails with regard to power crisis as power usage surged in proportion to rising mercury levels since March. However, the main opposition BRS seized upon the prevailing drought conditions as a strong weapon against the ruling party.

Spearheaded by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, the BRS accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress of mismanaging water and power resources, attributing the drought not solely to natural causes, but also to failed Congress policies.

Chandrashekhar Rao’s assertive stance during his recent visit to Nalgonda, Suryapet and Jangaon districts caused a stir within the ruling party, prompting heated exchanges over responsibility for the crisis.

Further, the pumping of water from Kaleshwaram project using Gayatri and Nandi pumphouses have further strengthened the BRS chief’s narrative, kickstarting a fresh discussion among people including social media.

His scheduled visit to Karimnagar and Rajanna Siricilla districts on Friday, is expected to intensify the unrest among people further.

The active campaigning of BRS working president KT Rama Rao, former Minister T Harish Rao and other senior leaders over negligence of the State government especially Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, has now pushed the ruling Congress into troubled waters as many Congress leaders facing not just physical heat due to summer, but also verbal heat from the voters questioning about the water and power crisis repeatedly.

The attempts of the Congress leaders including Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Ministers to counter the allegations and blame the previous BRS government appears to have only backfired.

With no tangible contingency measures initiated to mitigate the situation at the ground level, the water and power supply at the forefront of voters’ concerns.

The outcome of the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana hangs in the balance, contingent upon how effectively each party navigates the turbulent waters of public sentiment and effective policy implementation.