The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, which has been waiting for every small opportunity to run down the Congress and use it for its own political advantage, has found yet another such opportunity.
A reply given by Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy to a query from an NRI at an interaction at Telugu Association of North America at Philadelphia in the US, came as an opportunity for the BRS to attack the Congress.
During the interaction, an NRI asked whether the Congress, if voted to power, would continue the 24X7 free agriculture power supply scheme.
In his reply, Revanth said 95 percent of the Telangana farmers are small and marginal farmers with not more than three acres of land.
“It requires one hour of water supply to each acre of land. So, majority of farmers do not require not more than three hours of free power supply to water their crops. On the whole, it is enough to give seven to eight hours of power supply to crops,” he said.
Revanth alleged that the round-the-clock free power supply talk of KCR was a big hoax only to cheat people and help big farmers.
“In the name of free power supply, it is not appropriate to misuse the power and push the discoms into losses,” he said.
Though nowhere Revanth Reddy said the Congress party was against free power supply, the BRS leaders twisted his statement and started attacking him – right from BRS working president K T Rama Rao to energy minister G Jagadish Reddy.
Reddy described Revanth’s comment as anti-farmer, as it shows the Congress party’s opposition to 24×7 free power supply to the farm sector. He took exception to Revanth’s comments in favour of a drastic cut in power supply to the farm sector.
He said the PCC chief’s talk was a grim reminder of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s rule in the undivided State that was stained by a bloodbath in the Basheerbagh police firing of 2004.
“Naidu has gone, but his shadows are still ruling the roost. Being the disciple of Naidu, he said Revanth Reddy sought to continue his legacy. The Congress party was the enemy of the farmers,” he said.
There were farmers who had lost their fortune due to the vagaries of monsoons in the State. Instead of supporting their demand for uninterrupted power supply, Revanth Reddy wanted the power supply to the agriculture sector restricted for three hours.
“It is high time the Congress Party is taught a befitting lesson,” he said.
Following a call given by KTR, BRS workers and farmers staged protests and burned effigies of Revanth Reddy across the state.
In Nalgonda district, the BRS staged demonstrations and burnt effigies of Revanth Reddy at Kethepally, Neredugummu and other mandal headquarters.
In Suryapet district, farmers also staged a protest and burnt effigies of the TPCC president at Thungathurthy.
In retaliation, the Congress, too, called for burning of effigies of the BRS for making false allegations against Revanth Reddy.