Bandi Sanjay Sets Condition to Intervene in Telangana-Maharashtra Irrigation Row

HYDERABAD: Union minister of state for home Bandi Sanjay Kumar said he and Union ninister G. Kishan Reddy would seek talks with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the Tummidihatti lift irrigation project — but only if Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy admitted his inability to secure even a routine appointment with his neighbouring counterpart.

Calling the politicisation of routine matters for narrow gain "cruel," Sanjay said that maintaining cordial ties with neighbouring states would serve Telangana's interests. He accused Revanth Reddy of levelling allegations against the Maharashtra CM and manufacturing a rift to deflect from the state government's failures on paddy procurement and other unfulfilled promises and guarantees to the public.

Speaking at the Telangana Formation Day celebrations alongside former governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, BJP floor leader A. Maheshwar Reddy, former MP Boora Narsaiah Goud and senior leader Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Sanjay said that although the people secured a separate state, their aspirations remain unmet because of the corrupt rule of both BRS and Congress.

While asserting that the Centre remained committed to Telangana’s development, he charged the Congress government with misusing central funds, withholding matching grants and failing to acquire land for numerous development projects.

Responding to Revanth Reddy’s claim that the Centre was not buying all the paddy procured by the state, Sanjay contended that the state lacked a sound procurement plan. He clarified that the Centre purchased paddy based on prior reports submitted by the state government, and asked why the state government could not send a letter to the Prime Minister if it believed that the Centre was not meeting its purchase targets.