PoliticsHyderabad
Evening Pulse: Telangana's Chief Minister heads for Delhi as El Niño knocks on the door
Revanth Reddy has postponed a cabinet meeting on the drought threat to join Monday's voter-roll protest. His government is asking farmers not to sow rabi paddy, and the BRS has a tender to question.
Pan India Pulse deskBased on reports from Deccan Chronicle, Siasat (PTI), The Hans India, The News Mill (ANI)
Two calendars collided in Telangana this weekend. One is Delhi's: the INDIA bloc protest on Monday against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The other is the farm calendar, where the rabi season is about to start in a dry year.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy chose to be in Delhi. He asked Congress MPs, MLAs, MLCs, district presidents and senior party leaders to attend the protest, which the AICC is organising. To make room for it he postponed a cabinet meeting set for Monday to discuss El Niño and its impact on the state. A new date has not been announced. On Sunday he was in Goa for a Congress yatra before travelling to Delhi.
At a review meeting on Saturday, the Chief Minister painted a stark picture of the months ahead. The monsoon brought about 615 mm of rain against a normal of around 740 mm, a shortfall of about 17%, and 18 of the state's 33 districts are deficient. Reports put the number of mandals facing drought-like conditions between 215 and 235. He ordered an action plan, a war room and a helpline, and said the state would buy power at any cost, though little is available in the market.
The most sensitive step is the advice to farmers. The government plans to urge them to avoid rabi paddy so that the water left can be kept for drinking. The Assembly has already passed a resolution seeking a Rs 20,000 crore package from the Centre, and the state will seek 50 more days of work under the rural job scheme. An all-party committee on El Niño is being considered.
The opposition BRS, meanwhile, has opened a new line of attack. Working president K.T. Rama Rao wrote to the Chief Minister alleging irregularities in the Rs 3,296 crore tender for the Radial Road-2 expressway from the Outer Ring Road to Kodangal. He alleged that lower bidders were disqualified and contracts awarded above estimates, and asked how 13 bids were evaluated in about five working days. He wants the tender cancelled, documents made public and a special CAG audit. There was no immediate reaction from the government, PTI reported.
The BRS also has its own position on the SIR. It wants the Chief Election Commissioner to resign and a judge-led inquiry, and claims around 95 lakh votes were deleted in Telangana, a figure that has not been independently verified. Its planned protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office was postponed because of the festivals.
Nationally, the Supreme Court on Sunday directed Delhi authorities to keep transport and internet running and not to detain peaceful protesters outside the law. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are due to meet the Chief Justice of India on Monday.
Pulse view
Analysis by the Pulse deskAsking farmers not to sow is one of the hardest things a government can do. It saves water and power for drinking and essential use, but it costs farm families a season's income. The advice will only work if it comes with a clear promise of support, and that promise depends on money the state is asking from the Centre. Expect the question of who pays to become a Centre-state fight.
Revanth Reddy's Delhi trip is a political choice his rivals will use. For the Congress, the voter-roll fight is about the next election. For many voters, the drought is about this one season. The BRS tender allegations add a third question about how money is spent.
So here is the question: in a year when the rains failed, what should a chief minister's diary look like? Watch the date of the postponed cabinet meeting. It will say a lot about priorities.
What to watch
- The new date for the El Niño cabinet meeting
- Whether the government issues a formal rabi advisory and a compensation plan
- Any government reply on the Radial Road-2 tender allegations
- Telangana Congress turnout at Monday's Delhi protest
Your take
Do you agree with the Pulse view?
Sources
- Revanth, Cong leaders to join INDIA bloc stir against SIR in Delhi on Oct 12 Deccan Chronicle
- Revanth urges Congress leaders to join INDIA bloc protest in Delhi Siasat (PTI)
- Telangana Congress leaders to join anti-SIR protest in Delhi The Hans India
- CM Revanth sounds alarm over looming power, water crisis in TG under El Nino Deccan Chronicle
- Telangana CM orders officials to finalise El Nino action plan The News Mill (ANI)
- Telangana confronts severe drought conditions with power and water shortages The South First
- Next 8 months are critical: Telangana faces climate crisis risk amid El Nino NewsMeter
- BRS leader Rama Rao alleges irregularities in Radial Road-2 tender process ThePrint (PTI)
- KTR alleges Rs 3,296 crore Radial Road-2 tender scam ANI
- Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to participate in Cong's Goa yatra ThePrint (PTI)