Hyderabad: Slamming the NDA government at the Centre for not deciding the share of Telangana in Krishna river waters, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday said people should question the BJP leaders on the matter.
He was speaking at a public meeting at Kollapur in Nagarkurnool district after inaugurating the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift scheme.
He took exception to some BJP activists allegedly running behind his bus when he was coming for the inauguration of the project and the public meeting.
He hit out at the NDA government for not taking steps to determine Telangana’s share in Krishna river waters since it came to power in 2014.
In a blistering attack, he claimed that BJP leaders from the undivided Mahabubnagar district should go to Delhi and take up with PM Narendra Modi for referring the matter of Telangana’s share to the Krishna tribunal if they “have any sense of shame”.
“We asked for water. We said, Narendra Modi, you decide how much share our Palamuru (another name for Mahabubnagar) and Telangana will get in Krishna river. We should get (our share) as per Constitution and law. We have to build Palamuru lift irrigation,” he said.
“But, the Prime Minister who claims to be ‘Vishwaguru’, the BJP and the leaders and activists, there are so many of them in Mahabubnagar district. Does it take 10 years?” Rao, also known as KCR, said.
All that the Centre has to do is to write to the Krishna tribunal to distribute water between the two states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he claimed.
“But, Modi does not respond to it,” he said.
The Telangana government had gone to the Supreme Court for determination of its share in Krishna water but the Centre asked it to withdraw the case promising to refer the matter to the tribunal.
One year has passed since the Centre made the suggestion but there has been no progress, he said.
He asked the people to question the BJP activists and leaders as to why the matter has not been referred to the Krishna tribunal “since the last 10 years”.
The right to question is part of democracy, he said.
Rao said Telangana is only asking for its share.
“I submit to either the Centre or others or Andhra people. We don’t want your water. We don’t want to loot anyone’s property. If our share is told to us, we will take water accordingly. We are not asking for other people’s property. Telangana never asked for it,” he said.
On the occasion, Rao highlighted the welfare schemes and progressive measures of his government, including ‘Rythu Bandhu’ investment support scheme for farmers, social security pensions, inauguration of nine government medical colleges on Friday and the breakfast scheme for school children that would be launched soon.
Responding to Rao’s allegations against the BJP and the Centre, BJP National General Secretary and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar said it was the CM who kept the issue unresolved with the case in Supreme Court for nine years.
