Allow BRS to present PPT on irri projects in Assembly: KTR

Hyderabad: BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday said that if the government proposes to make a PowerPoint presentation on irrigation projects in the Assembly, the BRS, as the principal Opposition, should also be given time to present its perspective in the true spirit of parliamentary democracy.

Speaking to the media at Telangana Bhavan, KTR asserted that once members enter the Assembly, there is no distinction between the Chief Minister and an ordinary legislator.

“All 120 MLAs enjoy equal rights on the floor of the House. If the government presents its version, the Opposition must also be allowed to present its facts. We are asking for something very simple — you present your version, and allow us to present ours. As the principal Opposition, we are fully prepared to explain how Telangana’s agriculture and irrigation were transformed over the last 10 years under BRS governance,” Rama Rao said.

The BRS leader recalled that when former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao made a PowerPoint presentation in the Assembly on March 31, 2016, the Congress party had boycotted the House, terming it a violation of parliamentary traditions. “What was unacceptable then — how has it suddenly become acceptable now?” he asked, adding that a letter had been submitted to the Speaker seeking fairness in the matter.

KTR questioned the Chief Minister’s understanding of irrigation and river waters, pointing out that the CM had publicly claimed that the Bhakra Nangal project was located in Telangana, whereas it is actually in Himachal Pradesh.

“A Chief Minister who does not even know basic river basins wants to lecture us on irrigation?” he asked, alleging that the CM was also unaware of the river basin to which the Devadula project belongs.

Highlighting what he described as the government’s failures in the irrigation sector, KTR cited the collapse of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel that claimed eight lives, the Sunkishala project collapse and the submergence of the Vattem pump house. “What should we learn from you — how to make check dams fail, how Medigadda collapsed, or how Telangana’s rightful share in Krishna waters was handed over to the KRMB?” he asked.

He further accused the Congress government of neglecting the Palamuru–Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme for the past two years and questioned whether even a single additional acre had received irrigation water under the current regime. “Have they repaired even one tank or restored one canal?” he asked.

KTR asserted that the BRS was fully prepared to place facts before the Assembly and demanded equal opportunity for the principal Opposition.