BRS Legislature Party deputy floor leader T. Harish Rao has demanded the suspension of Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, accusing the state government of failing to provide uninterrupted electricity and irrigation water to farmers during the kharif season.
Rao made the demand on Thursday during a visit to drought-hit paddy fields in Burugupalli village of Gajwel mandal in Siddipet district, where he met farmers and heard accounts of crop losses. He accused the Congress government of administrative failures, inadequate power supply and the alleged diversion of irrigation water.
The former minister claimed that crops across nearly 12 lakh acres had dried up in Telangana during the ongoing season. He said the situation was not solely the result of natural drought, alleging instead that government decisions had worsened the impact on farmers.
Rao also alleged that the state administration had ignored warnings from scientists and agricultural officials about the possible effects of El Nino nearly 10 months earlier. According to his claims, the government failed to secure sufficient coal stocks and arrange advance power purchases, leaving farmers without adequate electricity when irrigation was required.
Farmers in Burugupalli, he said, were spending money on diesel generators and borewell pumps to protect their crops. Rao cited the case of farmer Aravind Reddy, who reportedly spent Rs 21,000 over three days to irrigate a three-acre field but lost crops on 2.5 acres because of inadequate power supply.
The BRS leader alleged that irrigation pumps at Kanepalli, Devadula and Kalwakurthy were being operated restrictively for political reasons. He claimed the government was reluctant to lift water because doing so could give credit to projects implemented during the previous BRS administration. These allegations were made during his interaction with farmers and were not independently verified in the report.
Rao asked the government to operate the pumps around the clock and release water from Mallanna Sagar to protect standing crops over the next 20 to 30 days. He also objected to what he described as an electricity tariff burden of Rs 5,420 crore on consumers during the drought.
The former minister demanded that the government declare drought-hit mandals, compensate farmers for losses across the claimed 12 lakh acres and provide Rs 12,000 to each agricultural labourer under the Indiramma Atmeeya Bharosa scheme. He also called for funds to be released to district collectors to address drinking water shortages.
Rao further sought the rollback of electricity tariff hikes and bus fare increases. His immediate demands were for the state government to protect remaining standing crops, ensure continuous operation of irrigation pumps and release relief for affected farmers and agricultural labourers.
