KCR calls for public meeting in Nalgonda on 13 February, the first post Telangana poll loss

He demanded that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal ruling on the share of Telangana and AP in Krishna waters be finalised within the next six months.

The party also demanded that the state government take an all-party delegation to the Centre to present the issue.

He also said that the state government should apologise to the people for the egregious blunder it had committed.

తెలంగాణ భవన్ లో సమావేశం అనంతరం సాయంత్రం నంది నగర్ నివాసంలో ఛలో నల్గొండ భారీ బహిరంగ సభ నిర్వహణకు సంబంధించి నల్గొండ, ఖమ్మం, మహబూబ్ నగర్, హైదరాబాద్, రంగారెడ్డి ఉమ్మడి జిల్లాల ముఖ్య నేతలు, సమన్వయ కర్తలతో విడివిడిగా బీఆర్ఎస్ అధినేత కేసీఆర్ సమావేశాలు నిర్వహించారు.

కృష్ణా నదిపై తెలంగాణ… pic.twitter.com/JgcFS9ZwPR

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) February 6, 2024

Also read: Jolt to BRS as Peddapalli MP Venkatesh Netha joins Congress

Internal shifts

The party leaders later said that the meeting in Nalgonda would definitely be held, come what may.

“We are not afraid of Congress leaders’ threat against conducting the meeting. They cannot scare us. We have a history of fighting against the Congress government in the past when it was led by late YS Rajasekhara Reddy,” former agriculture minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy told reporters while talking about the decisions taken at the meeting.

నల్లగొండ సభ నుండి ఉద్యమ శంఖారావం పూరిస్తాం..
తెలంగాణ నీటి వాటా తేలే వరకు విశ్రమించేది లేదు.

– మాజీ మంత్రి @SingireddyBRS pic.twitter.com/fBrBxCVUgN

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) February 6, 2024

Niranjan Reddy briefing the media on such an important meeting marked a departure from tradition.

Neither T Harish Rao nor KT Rama Rao — both former ministers — was there on the dais from where Niranjan Reddy briefed the media, giving the impression that the party was not giving undue importance to KCR’s kin.

When KCR arrived at the Telangana Bhavan in the afternoon, party cadres, overcome with emotion, raised slogans hailing him. Some described him as the chief minister while others called him the prime minister.

It took a while for the former chief minister to find his way into the building using a quadripod walking stick and with the help of party leaders.

He is still convalescing from the hip replacement surgery that he underwent after a fall in the restroom at his farmhouse in Erraville in the Siddipet district on 7 December night.

.@BRSparty working members, senior leaders welcome former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao to Telangana Bhavan with slogans of "CM KCR".

KCR's visit is for a day long meeting on allegations being raised by ruling Congress in regard to Nagarjunasagar dam project. pic.twitter.com/1Duk1z48gj

— South First (@TheSouthfirst) February 6, 2024

Also Read: Sonia Gandhi says she will consider contesting LS polls from Telangana

Why Nalgonda?

The party chief chose Nalgonda as the place for firing his opening salvo at the Congress because the district is known for peasant movements and the people show indomitable courage when resisting injustice.

Very recently, the police arrested farmers while they were staging a protest against the previous government’s move to acquire their lands to build a regional ring road in the Yadadri Bhongir district, which is a part of the Nalgonda combined district.

When the police produced them in court after bringing them in handcuffs, there was a huge and cry as the Opposition parties — mainly the Congress — hit out at the BRS dispensation for lacking sensitivity towards farmers and their concerns

The Nalgonda district is on the banks of the Krishna river, and that also makes it an appropriate place for launching the struggle.

In fact, when late chief minister NT Rama Rao laid the foundation stone for the Pulichintala Project on 13 November, 1988, residents of the Nalgonda district staged protests that led to stone-pelting and police lathi-charge.

The Pulichintala Project was conceived on the Krishna river between Nagarjuna Sagar and Prakasam Barrage in the Krishna district.

Related: Krishna river row turns into poll plank for Congress-BRS showdown

Warning from police

Meanwhile, Nalgonda Superintendent of Police (SP) Chandana Deepti announced that Sections 30 and 30 A of the Indian Police Act of 1861 would be in force in Nalgonda for one month from 5 February.

She added that the police would not allow any public meetings or any protests without permission from the department.

She also made it clear that stringent action would be taken per the law against those who held such rallies without permission.

Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy has already warned BRS leaders against holding protests and public meetings, to which the BRS reacted sharply.

Said Niranjan Reddy: “We will hold the public meeting come what may. If the police deny permission, we will get it from the court in a jiffy, shaming the state government.”

He said that BRS could not remain silent when the state’s interests were mortgaged at the altar of the KRMB.

“We are a formidable force with 39 MLAs, 16 MPs — including Rajay Sabha members, several MLCs, and Zilla Parishad chairpersons. Should the people keep quiet if the Congress tries to disrupt our meeting?” he asked.

He reiterated that the party took the issue seriously as the BRS and the people had fought for a separate Telangana for a fair share of Krishna waters, “a right the Congress government has given up”.

He reiterated that KCR led the struggle from the front for the protection of the state’s right to its legitimate share in Krishna waters.

“Several KRMB meetings took place during the last 10 years, but never did the state relinquish its right of control over the projects to the board. But the Congress, within two months of coming to power, let go of the control of the two projects on the Krishna river. It is an axe on the interests of the state,” he said.

The former agriculture minister said the state consented to the transfer of the control of Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam to the Centre at the KRMB meeting held in Delhi on 17 January.

“Even Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat confirmed the development, which only showed that there was a nexus between the Congress and the BJP. The purpose appears to benefit Andhra Pradesh at the cost of Telangana,” he said.

“The BRS considers the river water issue a life-and-death problem for the people of Telangana,” he added.