Former Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao showing a document to disprove allegations made by Chief Minister A.Revanth Reddy against previous BRS government.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
hyderabad
Senior leader of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao has accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of speaking white lies regarding Krishna river waters, particularly on handing over of 15 outlets of Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects, blaming the previous government for it.
“By misquoting the minutes of the 16th and 17th board meetings of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) held in May 2022 and May 2023, the Chief Minister has not only spoken lies but also misled the people of Telangana,” Mr.Harish Rao. He made the statement by reading out the paragraphs quoted by Mr. Revanth Reddy on Sunday wherein he said it was “clearly mentioned” in the minutes that Telangana did not agree to the transfer of 15 prioritised outlets.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday along with party leaders S. Madhusudana Chary, Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy, Methuku Anand, Ravula Sridhar Reddy, M. Sreenivas Reddy and G. Devi Prasad, the BRS leader said that in the 16th meeting, it was mentioned that Andhra Pradesh had agreed to transfer six components in its territory by issuing orders October 14, 2021 (based on the 15th meeting decisions). However, the same was awaited from Telangana in case of nine outlets in its territory — two based on Srisailam and seven on Nagarjunasagar.
As per the 17th meeting minutes, it was recorded that Telangana did not agree to the transfer of the components and instead asked that the matter be referred to the Apex Council for discussing common assets, seeking 50% water share and a review of the gazette notification issued on July 15, 2021, stating that the notification itself was wrong, the former Irrigation Minister said.
Mr.Harish Rao had also alleged that the Chief Minister had misled people on the matter of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator (PRP-HR) expansion by claiming that BRS (formerly TRS) was part of the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government when the decision was taken. He explained that two G.O.s were issued on September 13, 2005, and December 19, 2005, for enhancing the water diversion capacity of PRP-HR. However, on July 4, 2005 itself, the TRS had come out of the government, he added.
“Such mistakes occur at the level of Chief Minister either due to lack of knowledge and understanding on the issues or due to being misled by the back-end teams,” Mr.Harish Rao said, adding that it was not the TRS leaders who were tight-lipped then but Mr.Revanth Reddy’s Cabinet colleagues such as N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, K.Venkat Reddy and others from Telangana who kept mum when decisions were being taken by the then YSR government against Telangana’s interests.
He agreed that Congress leader P.Janardhan Reddy did raise the issue but it was the TRS that had opposed it strongly within and outside the Assembly. “It appears that Mr. Revanth Reddy is also ignorant about who drafted the bifurcation Bill as he was with Telugu Desam Party then,” he added.