Published Nov 18, 2024 | 7:39 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2024 | 7:39 PM
File photo of Musi River. (Wikimedia)
The Congress in Telangana is sure that a few BJP leaders went to the Musi River on Saturday, 16 November, night, armed with mosquito repellants, extra electrical fans, socks, and masks.
The ruling dispensation did not remain silent but tom-tommed about the extra amenities BJP leaders, who spent a night with those living along the Musi River, had.
BJP leaders led by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy slept in the houses of Musi dwellers in 20 different locations that the river is not as polluted as claimed by the Congress, and they need not be demolished to pay way for the government’s prestigious riverfront development project.
The BJP leaders shared dinner with their hosts and slept in their houses to prove their point. However, to justify the Congress’s claims, the ruling party claimed that the leaders who participated in the Musi Nidra — as the programme was called — were well equipped for a good night’s sleep.
Musi Nidra was also in response to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s challenge to the Opposition parties—BRS and BJP—to spend at least three months on the Musi River banks. The chief minister offered to abandon the Musi Riverfront Project if they still held the view that the river did not emanate any stench and had not turned into a drain.
The BJP took up the challenge for a night, making the Congress cry “photo op”. The Musi Nidra participants responded, saying it was a genuine effort to study the problems the Musi residents face.
The findings of the study were on expected lines: The houses need not be razed. However, the BJP study recommended cleaning up the river, even as it condemned the chief minister “instigating” the Nalgonda farmers.
The BJP leaders also denied the Congress charge that they went to the Musi houses unprepared. The residents themselves invited the leaders to their houses — some shacks and other proper dwellings, and no special arrangements were made.
It is not clear if the BJP leaders had a good night’s sleep as they claim. However, the Congress seems to have lost sleep — at least for a night — thanks to Musi Nidra.
BJP is against the Congress government's demolition plan along the banks of the Musi River and will stand firmly with affected people.
Glimpses from my visit to Tulasi Nagar Lanka, Amberpet, Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/BGBBjM4VM0
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) November 17, 2024
