Revanth Reddy Presses The Wrong Button On ‘Free Power’

Telangana PCC chief Revanth Reddy’s remarks on free power supply to the farming community kicked up a controversy. Revanth said that the BRS government was unnecessarily providing free power to the farmers for 24 hours in the state.

Addressing mediapersons in America, the TPCC chief said: “Over 35% of the farmers in Telangana own just 2-3 acres and they would need power for more than 3 hours to irrigate their farmland. Power supplied for one hour would be sufficient to irrigate one acre of land and in such a case, three hours of power is sufficient for many farmers in the state.”

In the name of free power to farmers, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is trying to bag commissions from the power supply companies and misleading the public.  He alleged that some other sections of the community are misusing the free power being supplied for 24 hours. The free power policy is being misused illegally for vested interests.

These remarks will certainly bring backlash from the farming community and it would reflect in the vote share of the party, felt political analysts.  Besides, the PCC Chief’s statements will be misinterpreted and taken out of context for their benefit by the BRS and the BJP too.

As expected, Revanth’s statement infuriated the BRS leaders and they branded the Congress as anti-farmer party. The Congress had never cared for the farmers and is not doing it even now, the BRS leaders said. Condemning Revanth’s statement, BRS leader and minister K.T. Rama Rao called for protest demonstrations in every village and district across the state on Tuesday and Wednesday. The BRS leader also asked the farmers and party activists to burn Revanth Reddy in effigy at every protest.

Reminding that the farmers faced tough situations in the past due to non-supply of power, minister Jagadeeshwar Reddy said that if the Congress would come to power, the farming community would be pushed into the same trouble again.

Meanwhile, PCC leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy reminded that the Congress had supplied free power during its regime and would continue to do so. Reportedly, he asked for video of Revanth Reddy’s press conference and is likely to make a statement after carefully watching it.

Ahead of the elections, Revanth Reddy could have been more careful with his words as the opposition parties will be watching their rivals to gain political mileage out of it, said political observers.