20-25 BRS MLAs Ready to Join Congress: Uttam

“The misrule and corruption during the BRS rule, and the couldn't care less attitude of the former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao was such that BRS’s numbers fell from 104 MLAs to 39 after last year’s elections," he said. "And now, of these 39, between 20 to 25 are ready to quit and ready to join the Congress,” Uttam added.

Uttam was addressing a press conference along with Prohibition and Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar at the Gandhi Bhavan. The ministers slammed Chandrashekar Rao and the previous BRS government for trying to mislead farmers over the issues of irrigation, power supply and other issues. “Everything KCR said in Sircilla on Friday was an outright lie. It is he, and his then BRS government who are responsible for farmers’ plight,” Uttam said, adding “we condemn his language, his comments and his lies.”

He also assured farmers saying “Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and the rest of the state Cabinet, are alive to the situation. “We are reassuring the farming community that any farmer who needs help will receive it. KCR is also lying about the power supply situation. Our government is providing uninterrupted 24 hour supply to everyone in the state,” Uttam said.

“KCR,” Uttam said, “has no right to talk about Godavari water. He is wholly responsible for what happened to the Kaleshwaram project. All probe agencies have said Medigadda has design, construction, and operation and maintenance faults. And it was his government that emptied water from Medigadda.”

He also said the BRS chief is fully aware that last year the inflows at various reservoirs were low and that irrigation and drinking water crises were brewing but did nothing as the chief minister.

Jupally said “KCR was totally incompetent. Despite being handed a rich state, he reduced Telangana into one burdened with a huge debt of Rs 8 lakh crore. It is to cover up his inefficiency and misrule, KCR who was the CM for 10 years, is today trying to blame the four month old Congress government.”

He said the “BRS will not even get a single seat in the coming Lok Sabha elections irrespective of the lies and claims by KCR who is desperately trying to get some votes by attacking the Congress government.”

Ponnam said there was no truth in BRS allegations that the Congress government was neglecting weavers. "Just because a single order was not placed, does not mean the weaving community is ignored. The government is getting all the fabric needed for student uniforms. Even the dues to the weavers were the ones not paid by the KCR government," he said.