'Shameful': Andhra BJP gen secy slams KCR for calling Rayalaseema projects 'illegal'

On Sunday, June 20, Andhra Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Vishnuvardhan Reddy stated that it is 'shameful' that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called projects in the Rayalaseema region 'illegal'.

Reddy, in a video message, informed that Rayalaseema is a drought-struck area that needs hand-holding.

The BJP leader added, "It is shameful that Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is thinking of doing injustice to Andhra Pradesh, particularly with the Rayalaseema region. Telangana cabinet's discussion to stop farmers in the Rayalaseema region if they use the water that drains out into the sea is irresponsible".

He added, "Rayalaseema is a drought struck area that needs hand-holding. At the time of bifurcation, KCR said that let us divide as regions but all the people will remain as brothers. Is this the true spirit of those words? Rayalaseema people have given thousands of acres for the Srisailam project. Will you accept if we say it is our land and our water?"

Reddy further questioned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy's silence on the matter and asked why he was leaving the interest of Andhra Pradesh's citizens for the sake of an amicable relationship with the neighbouring state.

He also questioned MPs and MLAs of the region whether as to why they were 'mortgaging the rights of Rayalaseema region people' for the sake of their businesses in Telangana.

Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project

The Rayalaseema LIP is being constructed at Sangameshwara in Kurnool district, radically different from the other projects. This is bigger than the Handri Neeva which is so far considered the biggest in Andhra Pradesh with a pumping capacity of 40 TMC per year. This is not just the largest project in Rayalaseema, but also the largest in the state.

The project is the brainchild of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has now taken up the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project to give a face-lift to the Rayalaseema region, following the footsteps of his father, who began the Jala Yagnam to increase the agricultural productivity in the state. The project, which has overcome teething technical and inter-state troubles, is now in the tendering stage.

(With ANI input)

(Image credit: PTI/KRMB.GOV.IN/FACEBOOK VISHNU VARDHAN REDDY)