Bhatti blames BRS over power sector, KTR says gas wasn’t allotted for 2 projects; Assembly adjourned sine die

HYDERABAD: The first session of the third Telangana Legislative Assembly adjourned sine die on Thursday following a heated and prolonged debate on the status of power sector in the State.

Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, while adjourning the house informed that the Assembly worked for six days covering 26 hours and 33 minutes. In all two short discussions and 19 speeches were made during the six-day session.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, while summing up the short discussion on the white paper he submitted on the status of power sector, alleged that the BRS and the AIMIM were trying to silence the voice of the treasury benches from speaking out the financial mismanagement committed by the BRS Government.

“As the Congress Government under the UPA planned and prepared for the future power needs of Telangana, the BRS should have planned to complete establishment of power plants to double (app 2.7%) the existing capacity to 38,000 MW,” the Deputy CM stated.

He wanted to know how the number of pump sets increased from 19.3 lakh in 2014 to 27.9 lakh in 2023 when the then Government claimed that it was providing irrigation through canals. “BRS claims that it has spent Rs 1,57,000 crore on irrigation projects. If that is true why the number of pump sets increased,” he wanted to know.

Former Minister and Sircilla MLA KT Rama Rao countering a question posed by BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on not completing gas- based power projects in Nedunuru and Shankarpally, said that BRS did not take up the projects due to non-allocation of gas for power production. “Can the Congress Government now promise that they would take up both the projects and complete them,” KTR said.

Former Power Minister G Jagadish Reddy while welcoming the Government’s decision to call for a judicial inquiry into power agreement and new power projects, said that the Government should consider the increased production of paddy in the State. He wanted to know whether the Congress Government would implement the 24 hour free power to farmers and also implement 200 units free power to white card holders.

AIMIM floor leader sought the house to move a privilege motion against the bureaucrats for presenting erroneous data in both the white papers submitted by the Revanth Reddy’s Government. He pointed out that the outstanding amount of the Power Finance Corporation had been depicted differently in the white papers. However Legislative Affairs Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu intervened and clarified that the finance department took a different figure as per their financial calender.