Hours before the commencement of a slew of programmes to commemorate the merger of erstwhile Hyderabad State into the Indian Union in 1948, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has set the tone for political diatribe by hitting out at the BJP and the Congress equally.
Sunday will surely witness the Congress party, which is holding the Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad, preparing itself to give a fitting reply to the ruling BRS at the Vijayabheri Sabha to be addressed by Congress senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Not to lag behind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was accorded a rousing welcome by the State BJP leaders on his arrival to participate in the Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations on Sunday, too will not shy away from taking potshots at the BRS regime and the Congress alike.
Addressing an impressive public meeting in Nagarkurnool district after switching on the first pump of the first-stage lift of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme on Saturday, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre for not making any effort to resolve the issue of Telangana’s share of the Krishna water even nearly 10 years after the State formation. He also asked the people to be wary about the Congress’ plans to deceive the people of the State again.
“A few youths came running towards the bus on which I was travelling to Narlapur by holding BJP flags, perhaps to register their protest. But, I want to know from the BJP ranks whether I had deceived anybody and what their protest was for. If they have any sincerity towards the people of Palamuru, they must ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why the water-share issue has not been referred to KWDT-II so far,” Mr. Rao said.
He sought to know from the Prime Minister whether it would take 10 years for the “vishwaguru” to refer the matter to the Brijesh Kumar tribunal (KWDT-II) and pointed out that it was only after the Centre’s assurance on referring the matter to the tribunal that Telangana government withdrew its petition filed in the Supreme Court. He asked the people, including BJP rank and file, to question BJP leaders as to what benefit they had secured for Telangana from the Centre during the past 10 years.
Terming the commissioning of the first pump of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) as a special event in his life since it was as MP from Mahabubnagar that he led the movement for statehood to a logical conclusion, Mr. Rao said, adding that along with the State formation, the Krishna water gushing out from the delivery cistern of the first-stage lift would remain in the State’s history.
Turning to the Congress that ruled combined Andhra Pradesh for a long time, he said it was the leaders of that party who had created hurdles for PRLIS. He pointed out that the leaders remained silent on the water share of Mahabubnagar when the Bachawat Tribunal (KWDT-I) was finalising its award on Krishna waters in 1975. The tribunal had sanctioned the Jurala project by allocating 17 tmc ft for it. But, not even the foundation stone was laid for it till 1981.
He cautioned people against falling into the trap of the Congress and the BJP, who kept deceiving them all through and allowed the progress and transformation of the State to go unobstructed. Ministers S. Niranjan Reddy and V. Srinivas Goud, Chief Secretary A. Santi Kumari, Kollapur MLA B. Harshavardhan Reddy also spoke.
Terming the day as National Integration Day, the Chief Minister and BRS founder will participate in the State government organised celebrations at Public Gardens. The MIM too is not lagging behind as its chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has decided to take out a ‘Tiranga’ bike rally to mark the occasion.
