Cong. Blames BRS’ Rule for Debts in Power Sector

�Hyderabad: Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy on Monday accused the previous BRS government of pushing the power sector into debt during their term of rule in Telangana. He also said that former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao must attend the Assembly Sessions without fail to discuss issues of power sector and if Chandrashekar Rao does not attend then he should not be allowed to allowed to continue as the Leader of Opposition in the House.

Speaking in the Assembly, Rajgopal Reddy highlighted the failures of the then BRS government for misusing crores of rupees in the name of power projects in Telangana. The power sector is facing difficulties today due to irresponsible decisions taken by the previous BRS government. The BRS government has repeatedly said that they were giving free electricity to farmers, but the concept of free electricity was brought by the Congress government.

It was then that the Congress government proved itself pro-farmers. Plans were made for the generation of 2,900 megawatts of electricity before the formation of Telangana. 1,800 megawatts of electricity was added to the state of Telangana due to the actions taken by the then UPA government to ensure that no injustice was done to Telangana in the State Reorganisation Act, Rajgopal Reddy said.

It would have been better to have a Leader of Opposition present in the Legislative Assembly. It would be nice to hear what we have to say and give some suggestions. But he (K. Chandrashekar Rao) does not come to the Assembly,the MLA said.

Rajgopal Reddy also said that BRS MLAs cooperate with the government by giving suggestions to provide more welfare schemes and develop Telangana further. But inside and outside the House, the BRS MLAs and their leaders started criticising the Chief Minister.

We will protect farmers and people from all walks of life and trying to bring the power sector out of the debt crisis. The then BRS government used outdated technology instead of the super critical technology that was already available. Bhadradri Thermal Power Station has often faced problems due to the use of outdated technology in its construction. Instead of following the tender system, the construction works were built by nomination method to those who liked the then BRS government," Rajgopal Reddy alleged.

Rajgopal Reddy further said in the Assembly that it was still unknown why the decision was taken to set up a thermal power plant at Damaracherla in Nalgonda district by the then BRS government. Rs 25,000 crore project has increased to Rs 36,000 crore. An agreement was made to purchase 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Chhattisgarh. If the Chhattisgarh government had behaved responsibly after making the agreement, the damage would have been avoided. Chhattisgarh suffered loss in power purchase due to improper deal. Their irresponsibility has left the power sector in debt, Rajgopal Reddy said.