BRS working president KT Rama Rao attacked the state government at a Rythu Garjana rally in Adilabad on Sunday. "This is not a drought caused by nature; this is a drought created by Congress," he said, rejecting El Niño as an explanation.
KTR's demands and claims
- Pay every farmer ₹60,000 an acre, covering three withheld Rythu Bandhu instalments and investment aid for the current Yasangi season.
- The BRS government paid ₹10,000 an acre a year, and Revanth Reddy promised to raise it to ₹15,000, he said.
- Nearly 1 lakh cusecs of Godavari water flowed downstream unused from the Kannepalli pump house, and if Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy had been used properly, "not even one acre would have dried up," he claimed.
The government's numbers and Congress's case
Telangana got 615.5 mm of rain from June 1 to September 30 against a normal of 740.6 mm, a 17% deficit. On October 27 the state declared 365 mandals in 31 districts drought-hit: 111 severe and 254 moderate. Paddy area fell 18%, from 69.19 lakh acres to 57 lakh acres. The state has sought a ₹20,000 crore special package from the Centre.
Congress leader Shabbir Ali said on October 30 that KTR was misleading farmers. He said the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages are under safety restrictions and the BRS left projects incomplete, and that input subsidies will be paid by direct transfer once NDRF funds arrive. No government response to Sunday's speech was available.
