KTR challenges Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to dissolve assembly and face by-polls

On Saturday, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao challenged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to dissolve the legislative assembly and face by-elections. Speaking at a news conference at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad, Rao claimed that the Chief Minister's own internal surveys indicated the BRS would win 78 seats if assembly elections were held now.

Rao dared Reddy to swear on Lord Rama that he had not conducted any surveys regarding his governance and the public mood. He stated that if the Chief Minister truly had confidence in his administration, he should prove it by facing local body elections, by-elections in constituencies with defected MLAs, or by dissolving the assembly to go back to the people.

In addition to the electoral challenge, the BRS working president heavily criticized the state government's management of the Kaleshwaram water project. He demanded that the government immediately begin lifting water from the Kannepally pump house, located about 14 to 15 kilometers from Medigadda, to support the farming community amid prevailing El Nino conditions.

Rao accused Reddy of conspiring to push Telangana into a drought while lakhs of cusecs of water flow downstream. He argued that the entire Godavari basin could be supplied with water through the Kaleshwaram project without any connection to Medigadda, but claimed the Chief Minister's lack of understanding and hatred for the previous administration were drying up crops.

According to Rao, reservoirs in the Godavari basin are already more than half empty. He stated that retired engineers from Telangana had recently written to the Chief Minister, explaining that water could be safely lifted from Kannepalli whenever the river flow reaches 93 meters.

The BRS leader asserted that the river was flowing at nearly 97 meters near Kannepalli, and starting the pumps could protect the state from a severe agricultural and drinking water crisis. He estimated that over the next 100 days, at least 200 TMC of water could be stored in major reservoirs like Mid Manair, Lower Manair, Mallanna Sagar, and Kondapochamma Sagar.

Rao warned that if the Congress government fails to start the pump houses and lift water, farmers across Telangana will revolt against the administration.