Telangana Assembly: Congress blames BRS rule for 'debts' in power sector

Hyderabad: Munugode Congress MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy has accused the previous BRS government of pushing the power sector into debt during their decade of rule in Telangana. He spoke during the discussion on electricity bills in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Congress has responsibility to highlight failure

Raj Gopal Reddy said that Congress is making an all-out effort to bring the power sector out of the debt crisis.

“We have the responsibility to highlight the failures of the BRS government which ruined the power sector during its decade of rule in the state. The UPA government during the bifurcation of the State allocated additional power to Telangana on the basis of utilisation but not according to the population ratio. KCR should attend the Assembly sessions and discuss the issues in the power sector,” he said and added that if KCR doesn’t attend the Assembly sessions then he should not be allowed to continue as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the House.

If not KCR, any BRS MLA can take the responsibility of the LoP, he added.

Commission set up to look into irregularities

The Congress government has appointed an inquiry commission to probe the irregularities in the power sector during the previous BRS regime, the MLA said.

“We have cautioned KCR in 2018 that the thermal power plant in Yadadri is not viable. The government needs to spend Rs 11,000 crores additionally to bring the plant into operation. Even though the BRS government spent crores of rupees, the thermal plant was not completed. Why did the BRS government begin the construction of a thermal plant in Nalgonda district, instead of Ramagundam as mentioned in the bifurcation act,” Raj Gopal Reddy said.

Jagadish Reddy lashes out at Revanth for misleading farmers

During the discussion, the BRS too took a dig at Congress regarding the current government's handling of the power demands.

Former Power Minister and Suryapet MLA Jagadish Reddy lashed out at chief minister A Revanth Reddy for allegedly trying to mislead the farmers regarding the installation of electricity metres at borewells.

Jagadish Reddy recalled that a couple of days ago, BRS MLA T Harish Rao stated that the previous government had prepared to bear a loss of Rs 30,000 crores, but metres were not yet installed at borewells.

However, CM Revanth Reddy said that Harish Rao’s speech was wrong and showed a document that KCR and PM Narendra Modi had signed an agreement to install metres at the bore wells.

Jagadish Reddy said that Harish Rao only briefed the House about the UDAY scheme of the Centre and as many as 27 states have joined this scheme. The scheme was brought by the Centre to rectify the financial situation of Discoms. The Congress-ruled states have joined the UDAY scheme before BRS and later it joined the scheme. He alleged that CM Revanth Reddy was trying to mislead the people and the farmers through his baseless remarks on the previous BRS regime.

The BRS MLA said that before 2014, houses were built under the power cables in Telangana.

“For the most part, we have removed such connections. In 2014, individual power usage stood at 1,196 kilowatts and by 2024 it reached 2,349 kilowatts. The BRS government had spent around Rs 90,000 crores to strengthen the power sector in the state. The UPA government had allocated power to Telangana based on its usage and the power sector was facing a debt of around Rs 24,000 crores when the BRS came to power in 2014. How can the power sector be streamlined without making debts? KCR himself announced in the Assembly that debts are being made to streamline the power sector in the state,” Jagadish Reddy said.