Chief Minister charges BRS government with focusing more on ‘commissions’ not projects

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Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy along with other ministers and party leaders addressing media at Bhootpur in Mahabubnagar district on Friday. | Photo Credit: arranged

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy launched a trenchant attack on the main Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) for ignoring the interests of the State in “lure of commissions” and destroying the irrigation sector in an unprecedented manner.

Tall claims of its leaders notwithstanding, the BRS government did not give water to any new ayacut. The previous government has in fact left majority of works midway as it did not focus on land acquisition, a basic component of irrigation projects. “How did a man who claims of reading 80,000 books (BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao) conceive that irrigation projects can be constructed without land acquisition?” he asked.

He charged Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao with prioritising electro-mechanical side of the project ignoring civil works as they involved “kickbacks”. Senior leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy raised his voice against corruption in irrigation projects and approached the Supreme Court seeking action against the then government, he recalled. “Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao did not consider helping the people of Mahabubnagar district who elected him as MP. He did not contest from the district as an MLA nor did he focus on fulfilling their long pending demand of Krishna water. As a result, all the projects in the districts, except Jurala which was completed by the Congress government in the past, remained incomplete,” the Chief Minister said.

He ridiculed the BRS leaders’ claims on taking to agitational path against the government and said: “Let them walk upto Kashi (Varanasi). It is good for them to wash off at least a portion of the sins they have committed.” Mr. Revanth Reddy dismissed the claim that the BRS had completed major irrigation projects and brought new ayacut in the State. “No a single new project has been started by the BRS. Mr.