KCR Signals Return To Active Politics, Launches "Direct War" Against Congress

KCR signalled his return to the political battlefield, vowing to "peel off the skin" of an administration that he claims has betrayed the state's fundamental rights.

22 Dec 2025, 04:05 · www.ndtv.com

Breaking a nearly two-year hiatus from active street politics, Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has officially declared a "direct war" against the ruling Congress government.

At Telangana Bhavan on Sunday, KCR signalled his formal return to the political battlefield, vowing to "peel off the skin" of an administration that he claims has betrayed the state's fundamental rights.

KCR's comeback is built on a platform he calls the "Triple Betrayal" of Telangana. He accused the Congress-led state government, the BJP-led Centre, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu of conspiring to "loot" Telangana's water resources.

KCR said his government had spent Rs 27,000 crore to complete 90 per cent of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. He alleged that the Congress government's "shameful" request to the Centre for only 45 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water, down from the original 170 TMC, is a death warrant for the drought-prone region.

He claimed that the Centre had returned the project's Detailed Project Report (DPR) at the behest of Chandrababu Naidu, while the Revanth Reddy government remained a "silent spectator".

Effective today, KCR has directed the BRS cadre to begin village-level mobilisations. This will culminate in three massive public meetings scheduled for January 2026 in Mahabubnagar (Palamuru), Rangareddy and Nalgonda.

"Till yesterday, it was one thing; from now onwards, it will be different. I have entered the field... there will be no more niceties," KCR declared, signalling an end to his post-election silence.

The comeback has immediately triggered a firestorm. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy hit back, branding KCR an "economic terrorist" and accusing him of "selling out" Telangana's interests by agreeing to a mere 29 per cent share of Krishna water during his tenure.

The Chief Minister has challenged KCR to a face-to-face debate in the Legislative Assembly session starting January 2, 2026.

Revanth Reddy dismissed KCR's press meet as a "theatrical performance" intended to mislead the public from the BRS's past failures.

Political analysts suggest KCR's timing is strategic. With local body elections looming in 2026 and growing farmer distress over irrigation, the BRS leader is looking to reclaim the "Telangana sentiment" that defined his decade-long rule.

KCR has also not spoken so far on the crisis within his family and party, with his daughter Kavitha being removed from the BRS and now training guns on her brother and working President KT Rama Rao, as also her cousin, former minister T Harish Rao.

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