Attacking former CM K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in a fiercely worded statement at the all-party meeting conducted at the Telangana Secretariat on Wednesday, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has alleged that KCR indirectly initiated the contentious Polavaram–Banakacharla project submitted by Andhra Pradesh. Revanth informed that the project directly endangers the water security and interests of Telangana.
Pointing to the Congress government’s strong opposition to the Banakacharla project, Revanth called upon all political parties in the state to come together and pass a resolution in the Telangana Legislative Assembly. He suggested sending the resolution to the Centre as a collective opposition to the project.
Revanth accused KCR to be the first one to, when he was CM, identify that about 3,000 TMC of Godavari river water was not being utilized and draining into the sea. He said it was this comment during a meeting of the Apex Council called by the central government that inspired Andhra Pradesh to bring in the Banakacharla project with the aim of diverting those waters.
Supporting his assertions, Revanth stated government documents from that Apex Council meeting—headed by KCR, Andhra Pradesh officials, and central authorities—unequivocally establish the way the issue was brought up. He also accused KCR of having conducted a series of discussions with then AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2019 on the transportation of Godavari water to the Rayalaseema region.
To support his comments, Revanth presented stored videos of KCR’s speeches during the Telangana Assembly and public encounters, such as the clips involving BRS leader K. Roja, where instigation of support for the Banakacharla plan was purportedly implied. He condemned the earlier BRS government administration, asserting that it knowingly endorsed a project potentially damaging to Telangana’s long-term water interests.
Revanth Reddy asserted that the present Congress government would leave no stone unturned in opposing the Banakacharla project. He vowed that the state is even prepared to approach the Supreme Court, if need be, to protect Telangana’s share of river water rights and the interests of its farmers and future generations.