Reorganization will hit district development, says KCR

Raising strong opposition to the reported plans of the State government to reorganise districts in Telangana, BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao cautioned that such attempts would hamper the development of the districts.

He also questioned Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s silence over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposals to divert Godavari River water to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, denying the rightful share of water to Telangana.

Chandrashekhar Rao also trained his guns at Modi for not acting upon the allegations against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of collecting ‘RR’ tax in Telangana.

Participating in a roadshow as part of his bus tour of Telangana ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Kothagudem on Tuesday, the Leader of Opposition said the previous BRS government created new districts llike Bhadradri Kothagudem to bring the government closer to the people, especially tribals living in remote areas.

“But now, we are seeing news reports that the Chief Minister is planning to reorganise the districts and remove Kothagudem district, restrict public access to the government. The BRS will strongly oppose any such move,” he warned.

Dubbing the BJP government as worst in independent India’s history, he said Modi was conspiring to divert Godavari River water to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for his own political gains. He pointed out that Godavari River is lifeline for Telangana and doubted that “Chote Bhai” Revanth was cooperating with “Bade Bhai” Modi in this regard.

Agreeing to diversion of Godavari River water was nothing short of suicidal for the State, he said. “Why is Revanth Reddy remaining silent on the issue? What is his understanding with Modi? The duo appear to be conspiring to cheat Telangana once again.

If they win the Lok Sabha elections, they will not hesitate to fix electricity meters to agricultural connections as well,” he said, reminding that the previous BRS government rejected the Centre’s proposals to fix meters to agricultural power connections. Chandrashekhar Rao also expressed



concerns that Modi and Revanth Reddy would kill the Singareni Collieries Company Limited.

He recalled that he had rejected Modi’s directions to purchase imported coal from the Adani group and had instead opted to rely only on Singareni for coal.

However, considering the bonding between Modi and Revanth Reddy, he said the latter would not hesitate to fulfill the former’s wishes.

Referring to Modi’s remarks at Andole accusing Revanth Reddy of collecting “RR” tax, the BRS president demanded the Prime Minister to order for a probe into the allegations. “If they (Modi and Revanth Reddy) are not working in collusion with each other, the Prime Minister must deploy Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and other Central agencies to investigate these allegations and nab the culprits,” he said.

Stating that Modi did not fulfill any promises in 10 years except for fueling communal hatred to gain votes, he said the BJP was not interested in the development and welfare of people, but only in winning elections to fulfill its political goals.

“The country belongs to all and we must fight to protect it. We must fight against the politics of hate,” he said. Lambasting the Congress for coming to power by making false promises, the former Chief Minister questioned the delay in implementing the much-touted six guarantees even after five months.

He received a firm “No” from the crowd when he questioned whether the Congress government had delivered Rythu Bandhu, one tola gold under Kalyana Lakshmi, Rs 2,500 to women, crop loan waiver upto Rs 2 lakh. The State government had also failed to address basic needs like drinking water and power supply.

“The Congress implemented free bus services for women, without considering the plight of auto-rickshaw drivers who lost their livelihood due to lack of an alternative.

Some of them were forced to commit suicide,” he said, also questioning the State government’s failure to initiate corrective measures following death of students in social welfare residential schools due to food poisoning.