BRS leaders slam govt for booking farmers over Jurala water protests

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi leaders on Thursday strongly condemned the criminal cases registered against farmers for manually opening gates at the Jurala Irrigation Project to supply water to their withering crops.

BRSLP Deputy Leader T Harish Rao expressed deep indignation, describing the state government’s actions as a deplorable act against desperate cultivators protesting to save their livelihoods. Harish Rao stated that handcuffing distressed farmers and filing police complaints against them had become standard procedure under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s administration. He accused the ruling party of deploying administrative officials to intimidate agrarian communities, calling it clear proof of government depravity.

Harish Rao questioned the state’s competence, pointing out that crops were dying due to severe water shortages. He asked whether terrorising anguished citizens through law enforcement during public demonstrations represented justice.

Furthermore, Rao asserted that authorities deliberately failed to harness available Krishna River inflows, effectively betraying regional water interests. He asked if the administration was delivering Praja Palana or inflicting Praja Peedana, while demanding an immediate dismissal of all charges.

Adding to the criticism, former Minister S Niranjan Reddy labeled the secret registration of cases against 14 farmers appalling, particularly when the state failed in its fundamental duty to supply adequate irrigation water. Reddy questioned the tangible outcomes of the recent two-day Karnataka tour undertaken by ministers and legislators at public expense to secure water resources.

Drawing historical parallels, Reddy recalled that during the tenure of N Chandrababu Naidu in undivided Andhra Pradesh, over 3,000 cases were slapped on farmers in Gattu Mandal over unpaid electricity bills.

He pointed out that such anti-farmer measures eventually led to the complete political erosion of the Telugu Desam Party in the region. The opposition leadership collectively maintained that the Congress administration must resolve underlying power and irrigation crises across Telangana rather than pursuing penal action against struggling agriculturalists.

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