Telangana: Revanth Reddy challenges BRS on free electricity for farmers

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy challenged BRS on free electricity for farmers, vowing to continue the scheme. He criticized the previous BRS govt and the Centre over crop procurement, and announced a new Rythu Discom to ensure transparency.

Congress Vows to Continue Free Power, Challenges BRS

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy asserted that the Congress government would continue providing free electricity to farmers and challenged the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to stake its political future on the issue.

Chief Minister on Saturday said the state remains committed to supplying quality 24/7 free power to the agriculture sector and dismissed allegations that the government was planning to withdraw the scheme or install smart meters on agricultural pump sets.

Revanth Reddy challenged the BRS leadership to publicly declare that it would not contest the next Assembly elections if the Congress government failed to honour its commitment to free power for farmers. He also stated that Congress would similarly refrain from contesting elections if it ever reneged on the promise.

Criticism of BRS and Central Government

"The Congress holds the patent to the free power scheme," the Chief Minister said, while claiming that the policy was first introduced by the Congress and had become a key pillar of Telangana's agricultural sector. The Chief Minister also criticised the previous BRS government, alleging financial mismanagement of power utilities and claiming that the former administration had initiated the process of installing smart meters through an agreement signed with the Centre in 2017, the CMO said.

In his remarks, Revanth Reddy also targeted the BJP-led Central government over crop procurement. According to the statement, he warned that if the Centre failed to procure paddy by June 15 and purchase other crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP), farmers' produce would be dumped outside the residences of BJP and BRS leaders.

"The Centre must procure all crops for which it announces MSP," he said, as quoted in the release.

New 'Rythu Discom' and Future Commitments

The Chief Minister further announced a proposal to establish a Rythu Discom aimed at ensuring transparency in power procurement and distribution for the agriculture and irrigation sectors. The proposed mechanism would utilise surplus renewable energy and help reduce the financial burden on the government while strengthening power distribution companies, according to the CMO.

The statement added that Telangana's power consumption has increased from 15,000 MW to 18,000 MW, which the government attributed to growing economic activity and agricultural demand.

The Telangana CMO said the government remains committed to protecting farmers' interests and strengthening rural prosperity through uninterrupted power supply and agriculture-focused welfare measures. (ANI)

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