Till the other day, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao used to speak only about Telangana.
He never tolerated the word Andhra Pradesh; so much so that he even questioned why newspapers in Hyderabad should publish news about the neighbouring state.
He opposed Polavaram project and a petitioned filed by his government is still pending in the Supreme Court.
Though he tried to pamper Andhra settlers in Telangana for the sake of votes, he had utter contempt for Andhra.
He raised a hue and cry when water from Nagarjunasagar was released into the right canal and from Srisailam into Pothireddypadu project.
Several times, he complained to the Krishna water tribunal against excess usage of water. He even demanded installation of water meters at the project sites to measure the “pilferage” of water by Andhra.
Such a hard core anti-Andhra leader has now given up his strong Telangana sentiment and started talking about “welfare of Telugu states.”
At an official meeting with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy held at Pragati Bhavan on Friday, KCR surprised everybody saying that he had never looked at both the states as different and his aim was to work for the betterment of the people in both the Telugu states.
Till the other day, KCR was talking about Telangana’s share in Krishna and Godavari waters.
His government filed a petition in the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal seeking rightful allocation of Krishna and Godavari river waters and the issue is still pending in the Supreme Court.
But on Friday, the Telangana chief minister surprisingly talked about availability of “combined share” of the river waters in both the states and said there was an availability of 4,000 tmc of water in both the rivers available for Telangana and AP and both of them have to utilise them properly.
One wonders how KCR can take such a U-turn. The water share of Telangana and Andhra in both the rivers is very clear as per the tribunal award and since Andhra is the last riparian state, it has got the facility to use surplus water.
But now, KCR is claiming right over these waters, too, saying both the Telugu states are same.
At the meeting, KCR put forth several proposals on linkage of Godavari and Krishna rivers. He even went to the extent of diverting water from Nagavali and Vamsadhara to the Krishna basin, as if he is ruling the Andhra Pradesh as well.
The sooner Jagan realises the scheming of KCR, the better!
