Harish Rao challenges Congress on irrigation and unfulfilled promises

BRS senior leader T Harish Rao on Monday slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for ‘cheap rhetoric’ and challenges government on water rights and welfare failures.

The BRS leader said that while KCR was a statesman of Himalayan stature, Revanth was a ‘Street Rowdy’ with a shrunken mindset. Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao launched a stinging attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Harish Rao asserted that while KCR spoke with the dignity, Revanth Reddy’s responses reflected a narrow-minded and frustrated perspective that brought disrepute to the office of the Chief Minister. \

Rao questioned the government’s failure to deliver on its primary election promises even after two years in power. He pointedly asked why the promised pension hikes and the Rs 2,500 Mahalakshmi monthly assistance for women remained unfulfilled.

He accused the current administration of focusing its experience on ‘loot and shares’ rather than mobilising resources for public welfare. Regarding the agricultural crisis, Rao expressed deep concern over the plight of farmers, slamming the government for forcing them into serpentine queues for fertilizers and confusing them with ‘apps and maps’ instead of ensuring a steady supply.

The BRS leader also countered the government’s narrative of ‘economic anarchy’ during the previous regime. He reminded that global dignitaries and financial experts at the recent summit, including Tony Blair and former RBI Governor Subba Rao, had openly praised Telangana’s unprecedented development under KCR’s leadership.

He accused Revanth Reddy of damaging the state's prestige for petty political gains and characterised the CM’s political history as one defined by ‘shifting loyalties like changing shirts’ and ‘backstabbing’, contrasting it with the BRS’s history of sacrifice for statehood.

On the critical issue of irrigation, Harish Rao presented a detailed technical rebuttal. He challenged Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy to prove the government’s claim that BRS created no new ayacut.

Rao stated that between 2014 and 2023, the BRS government provided water to 17.24 lakh acres of new ayacut and stabilised 31.50 lakh acres, totaling nearly 48.74 lakh acres. He dared the Congress government to show even 11,000 acres of new ayacut created in the last two years.

He demanded an immediate public apology from the Chief Minister for misleading the public and urged the government to withdraw the letter settling for 45 TMC.