Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday, 5 June launched a sharp attack on the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, alleging large-scale corruption in irrigation projects and accusing former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of siphoning public funds through contractor commissions during his 10-year rule. The CM made the remarks during a second consecutive day of field inspections across irrigation project sites in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district, also known as Palamuru.

Key Allegations Against BRS

Revanth Reddy alleged that during KCR's decade in power, a total of ₹1.81 lakh crore was spent on irrigation works across Telangana, of which ₹1 lakh crore went solely to the Kaleshwaram project. He claimed that ₹27,000 crore was spent on the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme alone — yet the project was left incomplete, with not a single acre receiving water.

'Thousands of crores were spent merely on pumps and lifts to amass commissions. They abandoned the works midway without providing water to even a single acre,' Revanth Reddy said. He further alleged that no land acquisition was carried out for any project in the district, calling it a fundamental lapse that made completion impossible from the outset.

The Palamuru-Rangareddy Project: What Was Promised

The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme has the potential to supply 90 TMC of water and, if completed alongside projects such as Jurala, Bhima, Nettempadu, Koilsagar, and Kalwakurthy, could have provided irrigation water to an ayacut of 26 lakh acres in the district, the Chief Minister said. He noted that hopes had been high when Telangana was formed that these projects would finally be completed.

Revanth Reddy dismissed BRS leaders' claims that 90 per cent of the Palamuru project was completed under their watch. 'How can 90 per cent of the work be finished without even 50 per cent of the estimated budget being spent?' he asked.

What the Congress Government Has Done

The Chief Minister stated that the debt KCR incurred for irrigation projects stood at ₹84,503 crore. His government, he said, has cleared ₹52,120 crore of that debt in just 30 months — paying ₹22,000 crore to contractors and spending ₹8,000 crore specifically on the Palamuru project. He added that land acquisition for approximately 4,000 acres related to the projects remains pending.

Revanth Reddy declared that the current government is committed to completing the project within two years and directed officials to expedite works without compromising quality. He also appealed to citizens to support the government in speeding up land acquisition.

Political Barbs and the Road Ahead

The Chief Minister was accompanied by ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Jupally Krishna Rao, Vakiti Srihari, and senior officials during the site visits. He took a pointed dig at BRS leaders' plans to undertake a padayatra, sarcastically suggesting they instead 'undertake a yatra to Kashi to get rid of the sins committed during the 10-year BRS rule.'

'BRS leaders looted everything and are now trying to paint us as the guilty. History will not forgive us if we fail to complete the project,' Revanth Reddy said. With the two-year completion deadline now publicly declared, the Congress government in Telangana has staked considerable political capital on delivering water to Palamuru's long-waiting farmers.