HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy bitterly criticised former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for skipping the opening day of the Budget Session on Thursday, despite being Leader of Opposition (LoP).
In an informal conversation with mediapersons in his chambers on the Assembly premises on Thursday, Revanth Reddy said Rao's absence during the Governor's address and the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting in the Speaker’s chambers showed his “callous attitude towards issues” concerning the people and the state.
Revanth Reddy dubbed Rao's decision to hold a public meeting in Nalgonda on February 13 on the issue of handing over projects over the Krishna River to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) a “cheap trick” to divert people's attention from the Kaleshwaram project, whose barrages are collapsing even after spending `1 lakh crore due to huge corruption during BRS regime.
“The Governor's address reflects the state government's priorities. BAC meeting decides the agenda of the House, what issues concerning people should be debated. But KCR skipped both of them, which proves that he has no commitment or concern towards people or state,” Revanth Reddy said.
On the KRMB issue, Revanth Reddy said people in districts falling under the Krishna River basin already rejected BRS in the recent Assembly polls and they will not believe their fresh “dramas” on this issue.
“They won just four of 36 seats in the districts under the Krishna basin. People in these districts knew very well about how BRS government dealt a blow to the region by scrapping the Pranahita-Chevella project and not executing the Pranahita-Rangareddy project. People knew very well that the handing over of projects over Krishna to the KRBM was initiated by Rao himself and he allocated funds in Budget for KRMB,” he said.
Revanth Reddy alleged that it was Rao who helped Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to construct the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project by diverting Krishna water after inviting him to dinner at Pragathi Bhavan in 2020.
Revanth Reddy said that the state Cabinet will discuss ways to proceed with the inquiry into the Kaleshwaram fiasco, in the wake of the High Court refusing to allot a sitting judge for a judicial inquiry. “We will discuss whether to order probe by a retired judge. The matter will also be discussed in the Assembly,” Revanth Reddy said.
