Telangana Congress president A. Revanth Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was resorting to ridiculous claims of foreign forces creating cloudbursts leading to floods in the Godavari, and that it was a tactic to divert public attention from the submergence of Kaleshwaram project due to faulty construction.
If the Chief Minister had such sensitive information, why didn’t he inform the Centre so that preventive action could be taken, Mr Reddy asked and demanded that the Centre call Mr.Rao for questioning on his claims and investigate into the entire episode.
Mr. Reddy, along with CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, MLA D. Sreedhar Babu, MLC, T. Jeevan Reddy, was speaking to reporters after a three-hour meeting where party leaders discussed the havoc caused by floods, crop loss and other issues related to the State. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Vikramarka.
The State Congress chief said if Mr Rao was serious about his comments, the country’s safety itself was in danger and more so, Hyderabad, which has several vital defence-related installations: “It is his duty to pass on such critical information to the Central agencies or else he should be taken into custody as this is related to national security.”
Despite the unprecedented rains, Mr.Rao was reviewing his party’s entry into national politics rather than the flood situation, he said, adding, “Today, he was forced to come out as Congress leaders were on the ground to help flood victims.”
Mr Reddy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced ₹1,000 crore for Gujarat floods, but the Telangana Chief Minister and State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar had failed to represent to the Centre for seeking similar financial support. “Both TRS and BJP are hand in glove and are trying to save each other rather than helping the State,” he charged.
On the proposed meeting of Rahul Gandhi in Sircilla, he said the decision would be taken after discussing with the senior Congress leader given the rain situation. He also said that an adjournment motion would be moved in Parliament on Telangana floods with the support of Sonia Gandhi.
Mr. Vikramarka said the meeting reviewed the failure of the State government in dealing with floods. He demanded that the government send teams to assess crop loss and collapse of houses, and that ₹15,000 per acre be given as compensation to farmers.
The submergence of Kaleshwaram was expected as no science or engineering advice was taken, he alleged, adding that it would have been a better project had it been designed by the Congress as Pranahit-Chevella as planned. “It would have been completed with ₹35,000 crore instead of ₹1 lakh crore now spent,” he added.
Mr. Jeevan Reddy ridiculed the Chief Minister for claiming there was no crop loss and said that would only help the Centre avoid releasing any assistance to farmers. The absence of crop insurance in Telangana has hurt the farmers, he remarked, adding that flood-affected fishermen too should be given ₹1 lakh each to get back on their feet.
