Hyderabad: BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao was scheduled to visit Telangana Bhavan on December 19 to chair a joint meeting of party MLAs and the state executive, party leaders said.
The meeting would begin at 2 pm. Leaders said it would focus on disputes over Krishna and Godavari river waters. It would also review the Congress government’s handling of irrigation projects launched during the 10-year BRS rule.
According to the party, the Congress government failed to protect Telangana’s water interests. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh continued to draw Krishna and Godavari waters. As a result, farmers faced growing uncertainty over irrigation.
The BRS said the Congress government showed negligence in taking forward key irrigation projects. Therefore, the party believed another public movement had become unavoidable to protect farmers’ rights.
Leaders said the meeting would hold detailed discussions on shaping the next phase of public agitations. They would also debate the strategy and structure of a statewide movement.
The party criticised the Congress government for accepting only 45 TMC of Krishna water for the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation project. Earlier, the BRS government had secured an allocation of 91 TMC. The party accused irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy of compromising farmers’ interests by agreeing to the reduced quota before the Centre.
KCR BRS meeting to finalise public agitation plan
The BRS also targeted the BJP for remaining silent on Telangana’s water issues. Despite having eight MPs from the state, the party said none had raised their voice. According to the BRS, the BJP damaged Telangana’s irrigation interests both at the Centre and in the state.
Party leaders said KCR believed only direct public struggles could counter the Centre’s alleged injustice on water allocation. Therefore, the meeting would focus on mobilising people across Telangana.
The BRS said water from the Palamuru lift irrigation project would have already reached farmers if the party had returned to power. Instead, it alleged that the Congress government’s inaction harmed farmers in Palamuru, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts.
Leaders said the December 19 KCR BRS meeting would also address organisational matters. They said the meeting would take key decisions on future agitations. According to the party, the meeting would mark the beginning of a full-scale movement to protect Telangana’s irrigation projects and river water rights.
