Revanth Reddy dismissed KCR’s charges as “political histrionics” meant to divert attention from the BRS’s internal family disputes and electoral failures.
Published Dec 22, 2025 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Dec 22, 2025 | 11:00 AM
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
Synopsis: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy dared former chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao for a two-day Assembly debate on who had done what for the people of the state. The confrontation began with KCR vowing to launch a “direct war” against the ruling Congress government and the BJP-led Union government.
In a sudden and heightened political tussle, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday, 21 December, dared former chief minister and BRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao for a two-day Assembly debate — one day each on the Godavari and Krishna rivers— on who had done what for the people of the state.
Revanth Reddy said at an informal media interaction that he was renewing his invitation to Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to participate in the debate in the Assembly beginning 2 January 2026, stressing the need for a fact-based discussion on past agreements and future strategies.
“Let us have an honest debate in the Assembly,” he urged, assuring respectful treatment to his predecessor.
Hitting back at KCR’s wasp-sting criticism that Telangana was hurtling down from the “precipice of underdevelopment” under the Congress government, Revanth Reddy said the reality was quite the opposite and that it was during the BRS regime that the people of Telangana had suffered heavy losses.
The exchange, centred on the contentious issue of Krishna river water sharing with Andhra Pradesh, marks KCR’s dramatic return to active politics after a period of relative silence following his party’s electoral setback in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The verbal duel underscored the deep-seated rivalries in Telangana politics, where water resources remain a political powder keg, shaping voter sentiment, particularly in agrarian regions.
The confrontation began with KCR vowing to launch a “direct war” against the ruling Congress government and the BJP-led Union government. Breaking his low-profile stance, he accused the Revanth Reddy administration of colluding with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the Union government to deprive Telangana of its rightful share of river waters.
KCR specifically targeted the Palamuru–Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), claiming that his Bharat Rashtra Samithi BRS government had invested ₹27,000 crore to complete 90 percent of the project, aimed at irrigating drought-prone areas of Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts.
He alleged that the Congress government had slashed the water requirement from 170 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) to just 45 TMC, effectively signing a “death warrant” for the project and the livelihoods dependent on it.
Revanth Reddy hit back swiftly, dismissing KCR’s charges as “political histrionics” meant to divert attention from the BRS’s internal family disputes and electoral failures over the past two years.
In a pointed rebuttal, he accused KCR of presiding over the “maximum water loot” during his decade-long rule, claiming that the former chief minister had conceded 512 TMC of Krishna water to Andhra Pradesh out of a total of 811 TMC, leaving Telangana with only 299 TMC — about 34 percent — instead of the 71 per cent share the present government is demanding.
“KCR signed a death warrant for Telangana’s projects,” Reddy charged, accusing him of not taking up any new irrigation schemes on the Krishna river.
He further lambasted KCR for burdening the state with a debt of ₹8.11 lakh crore through what he called unproductive spending and corruption, branding him a “financial terrorist” who betrayed Telangana by signing unfavourable agreements.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
