Anantapur: As a majority of the Rayalaseema leaders are having Hyderabad as their business base, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is trying to lure them into the BRS.
Notably, Chandrasekhar Rao was having contacts with leaders of Anantapur ever since he was the in-charge minister during the TD rule of undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The pro-Rayalaseema organisations are not averse to the idea of association with the newly formed ‘national party’, but stress that the BRS first make clear its stand vis-à-vis the hurdles in the way of arranging irrigation facilities for the backward region.
Soon after the BRS announced its intention to concentrate on AP, local activists demanded that the new party should make its stand clear on the pending irrigation projects and the excessive use of water by TS from Srisailam towards power generation and for the Nagarajunasagar.
Rayalaseema Sanguinetti Sangham convener B. Dasaratharami Reddy said the BRS should explain its utilization of Krishna water from Srisailam. “If power generation is stopped by Telangana and if it maintains the water levels as per norms, this could help meet the drinking and irrigation needs of Rayalaseema region. If so, the party can try and have a base here,” he observed.
He said four major water projects meant for the region were struggling due to objections raised by TS under the Chandrasekhar Rao rule.
“We seek only justice for Rayalaseema, which is suffering for the past seven decades due to poor irrigation facilities.” K. Sharma, irrigation expert from Anantapur. said.
Retired persons including former civil servants as also traders from the Rayalaseema region, who had settled down in Hyderabad, are being lured to support for the BRS. A former MLA from Anantapur area, from the TD, claims to have close contacts with Chandrasekhar Rao.
Rayalaseema activist Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy noted that Chandrasekhar Rao was facing serious problems due to dissidence in his party in his home state. “Chandrasekhar Rao failed to develop Telangana and he is facing a jolt at all levels. How can people believe in his words in other states like AP,” he asked.
