HYDERABAD: Two political parties. Two rivers. One water war. And gearing up for this and to drown one another with each side ready with bucket loads of charges and counter charges, and evidence, are the Congress, and the BRS, both of which have chosen February 13 for the showdown
On the one side, gathering its troops at Nalgonda, to be addressed by party chief K. Chandrashekar Rao, is the BRS, which sought to up the ante after it had been more or less silenced with the Medigadda barrage disaster. The BRS latched on to the issue of the alleged handing over of projects on Krishna river to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) by the Congress government.
On the other hand, in what is likely to overwhelm the BRS efforts, is the February 13 trip to Medigadda led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who on Friday, threw down the gauntlet at the BRS, asking its MLAs to join the trip.
With the Medigadda barrage the focus on an investigation by the Vigilance & Enforcement (V&E) which found BRS government’s culpability in the disaster, the Congress government is set to pull all stops to put the BRS and Chandrashekar Rao on the mat on the issue the same day when the BRS leader will attempt to hit out at the Congress over the KRMB issue.
The Congress has been saying that BRS is attempting to divert attention from Chandrashekar Rao’s responsibility for not just the sinking of Medigadda barrage, but the entire Kaleshwaram project becoming more or less useless. After all, he had repeatedly claimed that he designed the project, but wants to say nothing on it, now that the Kaleshwaram project is in doldrums, the party says.
Despite mounting evidence of failures in the Kaleshwaram project, the BRS on Saturday doubled down on its stand declaring that the Congress government did not even have a fundamental understanding of the project.
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao made it clear none from his party would go to Medigadda on February 13, adding: “Medigadda was built by KCR. We are the ones who built the wonderful Kaleshwaram project. Since we built it, we have no need to go and see it. The Congress leaders can go and see, and learn about the greatness of the world’s largest lift irrigation project as they know nothing about it.”
Rama Rao also said, “We are ready for any kind of an investigation and if any mistakes are found, then make them public. If there are any small problems in the project, it is for the government to set them right. Just because Medigadda has some issues, saying the entire Kaleshwaram project is a failure is nothing more than a conspiracy.”
