Women will get one-third representation if BRS, allies come to power in Centre: KCR

The BRS would accord priority to this requirement as women should not remain neglected, he said, adding: “They should take part in the legislative process.”

The Telangana chief minister, listing out the priorities in the BRS’ policy, said that it would strive to end water wars between the states. It is unfortunate that the riparian states should fight among themselves as water allocation by the tribunals was taking a very long time. “There will be a total change in water policy,” he said.

BRS President, CM Sri K. Chandrashekar Rao addressing the media in Nanded, Maharashtra. https://t.co/EM4IGBlVN6

— BRS Party (@BRSparty) February 5, 2023

‘Resources are not being utilised’

KCR felt sorry that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal which was constituted in 2004 was yet to make an allocation of Krishna river waters to the riparian states.

“Though we have enough water, we still fight among ourselves,” he said, promising that the BRS would ensure that the power sector would remain in the public sector when it came to power.

“This is a crucial sector. Per capita consumption of power indicates the country’s progress. Power should be in the public sector. We will reverse all decisions of the present government related to the privatisation of the power sector after the BRS is firmly in the saddle.

He said that in Telangana, the power sector was working on sound lines.

“Hyderabad is a power island. There might be power outages in New York or London, but not in Hyderabad,” he said.

Also read: People of Telangana our family, says KTR

‘Government betraying people’

If it so desired, the Central government could provide power without any interruption to the entire country as it has an installed capacity of 4.1 lakh MW but only half of the capacity is being utilised, said KCR.

He said the country has 361 billion tonnes of coal, enough to supply power for 125 years, and yet it was importing coal.

“When the price of coal in Inda is ₹4,000 per tonne, why should we import it at ₹30,000 per tonne, which is nothing but a betrayal of people’s trust in the government,” he said.

While disapproving of the privatisation drive, KCR referred to the latest Adani catastrophe.

Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman might say there was no impact from it, but people lost heavily as the stocks of Adnani’s companies crashed after the release of the Hindenburg report, he said.

‘Probe Adani crisis’

He dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the muddle if there was nothing fishy about the Adani scam and its effect on the bourses. He also wondered how Adani could rise to become one of the richest men in India in such a short time.

He also took exception to the disinvestment of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as it was in profits and was doing very well. “Why did LIC have to invest heavily in the Adani companies, and at whose instance?” he asked.

KCR said that his party was considering ushering in electoral reforms. If for any reason an Assembly gets dissolved, elections should be held for the remainder of the term and not for a full term, he said.

As of now, elections keep happening all the time, with no gap for focusing on development, he said.

On the topic of the creation of smaller states, he said that it was another subject that the BRS was studying.

“As efficiency would be more in smaller states, the BRS would look for ways to create smaller ones after involving the stakeholders and attaining consensus. The approach would have to be very scientific, and the guiding principle should be effective governance,” KCR said.