Point by point, Harish Rao exposes Revanth Reddy’s lies

In a blow-by-blow expose of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s lies on the fate of the joint projects in Krishna river basin and water sharing, BRS leader and former Minister T Harish Rao on Monday presented documentary evidence which showed that neither the BRS government nor former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had ever signed any agreement to hand over the irrigation projects to the river management boards.

Chandrashekhar Rao and the BRS government had repeatedly insisted on Telangana’s concerns being addressed before any component of the projects were handed over to the boards, he said, citing the summary record of discussions of the 17th meeting of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on May 10, 2023, where Telangana had not agreed to the transfer of components of Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam and stressed that the matter be referred to the Apex Council to discuss common assets.

Harish Rao, who condemned the foul language used by Revanth Reddy in Sunday’s press conference, said the Chief Minister’s arguments were baseless as he had hardly any knowledge of the underlying facts. Whether it was in the KRMB meetings or even at the Apex council, the former BRS government had stuck to its stand without yielding to the pressure of the Centre and had refused to hand over operational control over the joint projects and their outlets.

At the 16th meeting of the Krishna



River Management Board held on May 27, 2022, Andhra Pradesh had readily offered to hand over the projects to the Board whereas Telangana had declined to part with them without addressing its concerns. Presenting the consensus decision taken at the meeting, the Member Secretary of the board had made it clear that though AP had agreed for handing over the projects, the decision of the Telangana government on the operational control of the projects and their components was “awaited”, Harish Rao said, presenting documentary proof for the same.

At the 17th meeting of the KRMB as well, the Telangana Irrigation Secretary had made it clear that the State was not for handing over the projects without all other issues involved in water sharing between the two States being addressed. Even at the second apex council meeting chaired by the union Minister for Jal Shakti, Chandrashekhar Rao had openly stated that the Krishna projects could not be handed over to the KRMB without resolving the whole gamut of issues involved as it would be against the interests of the State.

Stating that the truth would speak for the BRS and prove who made real sacrifices for Telangana and who had fallen to the lure of berths, Harish Rao also quoted minutes of the meeting held with the Irrigation secretaries and E-in-Cs of both the States on January 17 by the union Secretary for Jal Shakti in New Delhi, after Revanth Reddy assumed charge.