Permission revoked for Harish Rao’s Wanaparthy meet, BRS slams Congress

BRS to explore legal options after authorities cancel permission for Harish Rao’s meeting during farmer protests.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) stated that permission for a public meeting to be led by BRS legislative party deputy leader and former Irrigation minister T Harish Rao, scheduled on April 9 in Gollapalli village of Revalli mandal, Wanaparthy constituency, has been revoked by authorities, and the party slammed Congress led Telangana government for curbing democratic dissent.

The meeting was to be addressed in support of farmers protesting against the proposed Gollapalli reservoir project.

Permission withdrawn after initial approval: BRS

According to BRS leaders, officials had initially granted permission for the meeting, following which arrangements were made for the event. However, the permission was withdrawn shortly before the scheduled date.

The sudden reversal has drawn criticism from the opposition, which termed the move arbitrary.

Former minister S Niranjan Reddy criticised the decision, describing it as undemocratic and alleging that the government was attempting to restrict opposition activities.

He also referred to the detention of several BRS leaders, including former ministers and MLAs, who had gone to Parigi a day earlier to meet protesting farmers, calling the arrests unlawful.

The BRS leadership has indicated that it will approach the High Court seeking permission to hold the public meeting.

Farmers’ protest and project concerns

Farmers in the region have been staging protests for around 100 days opposing the proposed Gollapalli reservoir. They argue that the project is unnecessary given the presence of the nearby Edula reservoir and have raised concerns about its purpose and prioritisation.

The opposition has questioned why the government is moving ahead with a new reservoir instead of completing pending works under the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, which they say could help improve water availability in existing reservoirs such as Narlapur, Edula, Vattem and Karivena.