Revanth ridicules KCR for comments on drought, asks Opposition for a report on ‘farmer suicides’

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy refutes BRS allegations of drought in the State, questions rationale behind the allegations, welcomes KCR visit to agriculture fields, prepares summer action plan.

Refuting the allegations of Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that drought conditions in Telangana were the result of the Congress rule, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy reminded that there was deficit rainfall during the monsoon last year, resulting in the non-availability of water in the projects and a continuously decreasing groundwater table. He questioned the rationale of the allegations.

The Chief Minister observed that BRS president former minister K Chandrasekhar Rao visited agriculture fields as part of the ‘Polam Bata’ programme only for political mileage in the Lok Sabha elections. “We welcome his visit as he could at least think about the people’s issues now since he lost power, suffered a fracture and witnessed the arrest of his daughter,” he said.

Responding to allegations that 200 farmers had ended their life in the State in 100 days since the Congress came to power, the CM asked them the BRS to submit a report within 48 hours to the Government with the details like names and villages of farmers who reportedly ‘committed suicides’ so that his government can provide them compensation after the elections, if the suicides are genuine.

Mr. Reddy, along with IT Minister Duddila Sridhar Babu and other Congress leaders, visited Tukkuguda near Hyderabad on Tuesday as All India Congress Committee (AICC) President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to address a public meeting on April 6 as part of the Lok Sabha election campaign.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, Mr. Reddy ridiculed the comments that the State government had failed to provide irrigation water to the standing crops, stating that their first priority was to cater to the drinking water needs in view of the depleting groundwater table and below dead storage levels in the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) and Srisailam projects. “It is not right to blame the Congress government for the drought. They (BRS) were indeed in power during the last rainy season.  We (Congress) came to power in December last year, which is the winter season. But KCR has lost senses and talking nonsense against us,” he said.

The CM said that the Government had already prepared a summer action plan to meet the drinking water needs in the State. Referring to the allegations over non-payment of the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ (Rythu Bharosa) assistance, he said that the Congress Government had deposited financial assistance in the accounts of 64,75,581 farmers while only nearly four lakh farmers are yet to receive the assistance. He dared the BRS for an open debate on the issue.