Revanth Reddy accuses BRS of deceiving farmers in garb of free power

HYDERABAD: Challenging Chief Minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Chief K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) to contest from Gajwel and win the upcoming elections, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President A Revanth Reddy has alleged that the State Government is involved in a mega scam in the name of 24-hour free power to farmers.

Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan on Monday, Revanth Reddy presented a long list of arguments to support his utterances against free power to the farming sector in Telangana during his sojourn to the USA.

Quoting a few excerpts from a January 2023 press meeting of TSTRANCO Chairman and Managing Director, D Prabhakar Rao, Revanth said that Prabhakar was categorical in saying that the 24-hour power given to farmers was single-phase power that too was need-based.

“When journalists pressed for clarity on the issue, he just left in a huff without answering whether the Telangana Government is giving three-phase or single-phase power to farmers,” Revanth Reddy said.

He wanted to know how the Government was claiming an expenditure of Rs 16,000 crore every year without giving 24 hours of free power to farmers.

“This amounts to Rs 8,000 crore scam annually in the name of three-phase, round-the-clock free power,” the TPCC Chief added. He challenged the Chief Minister to an open debate on the issue at a venue of the latter’s choice.

Alleging that the BRS Government was resorting to corruption by spiking per megawatt (MW) power production costs, he said that the Government was spending Rs 9.70 crore per MW at the Bhadradri Thermal project, while public sector giant BHEL could produce each MW of power at a much lower rate of Rs 5.50 crore in Uttarakhand.

He called upon Congress workers to tie up the BRS leaders to tree trunks in every village till the Government implemented its promise of 24-hour free power, handover pattas to Podu lands and provide debt relief to farmers.

Alleging a tacit understanding between the BRS and the BJP, Revanth Reddy called upon the Congress cadre to obstruct IT Minister KT Rama Rao wherever he went, for the comments he made against Rahul Gandhi. KTR on Sunday had said that Rahul was not a leader but a reader who only read scripts written by local Congress leaders.

He also challenged State Finance Minister T Harish Rao to re-nominate all the sitting MLAs in the ensuing Assembly elections and win the elections.