HYDERABADDeputy Floor Leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) T. Harish Rao has criticised Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for his comments on the utilisation of Krishna river waters in the 2025-26 water year and remarked that both the CM and Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy lack even basic understanding on the State’s use of water.In a statement responding to the comments made by the Chief Minister during his visit to the combined Mahabubnagar district on Friday, Mr. Rao said it’s unfortunate that the State was being headed by a person lacking basic understanding on the river water utilisation and said it could be seriously detrimental to the State’s interests.He sought to know whether the Chief Minister and the Irrigation Minister had no knowledge about what the Engineer-in-Chief of Irrigation wrote to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on the utilisation of water on May 2 this year. Citing the letter addressed by the ENC to the river board, the BRS leader said the ENC himself had stated in the letter that Andhra Pradesh had utilised 74.23% water in 2025-26 against 25.77% water used by Telangana.Seeking to know whether the Chief Minister and the Irrigation Minister would understand the basics since 30 months had lapsed after they had assumed power, Mr. Harish Rao said he would never speak without any basis and only the Congress leaders had the habit of speaking lies indiscriminately. The Chief Minister who would often claim himself of “Palamuru Bidda” (son of Mahabubnagar soil) had done nothing for his district in two-and-a-half years as the Chief Minister.He remarked that the Chief Minister was speaking lies and half-truths to cover up his failures. He accused Mr. Revanth Reddy of wilfully neglecting the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme that would provide irrigation facility to 12.3 lakh acres of uplands and drinking water to villages. He said it was Mr. Revanth Reddy who had encouraged filing of cases against PRLIS when in opposition.Ridiculing the CM’s comments on the land acquisition for PRLIS, Mr. Harish Rao said despite creating hurdles by the Congress leaders the then BRS government had acquired 27,191 acres land. After sleeping over the issue of land acquisition for 30 months the talk of proposals for acquiring land was unpardonable. It was the BRS government that had acquired land and increased irrigation under Kalwakurthy, Bhima, Nettempadu and Koilsagar projects to 6.5 lakh acres from just 27,000 acres, he said.A total of 10 lakh acres was brought under irrigation in Palamuru during BRS rule and brought back those who went on migration for livelihood after turning the district as an address to distress migration and hunger deaths by the previous Congress and TDP rules, he said. Published - June 05, 2026 08:15 pm IST