Telangana is a state of many lakes. Do you have plans of reviving them, as the majority has dried up?

Yes, very much so. My father, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana, Mr K Chandrashekar Rao, had this vision for a long time about Telangana. We are focused on Mission Kakatiya, our flagship project named after the kings who ruled this region a thousand years ago and also developed a large number of irrigation tanks. We have hundreds of lakes and ponds, and this is a unique feature of our geography. The Government has identified 45,000 plus tanks and lakes and has plans to restore all of them. We plan to spend Rs 40,000 crore annually on this project. Once all the tanks are restored, as much as 250-270 TMC of water will be available for agriculture, irrigation, drinking purposes and livestock. By rejuvenating these water bodies, we will rejuvenate the economy of the state. Even the Mayor of California evinced interest in this mega project, and how the de-silting of aquifers will benefit the region.

You also have Mission Bhagiratha…

Yes, this is the other major project for the state. Our slogan during the state elections was “water, jobs, finances.” We want piped water for the entire state. Earlier, only Hyderabad had piped water. My father is a committed man and is known to keep his word. He has promised the electorate that if his Government is not able to give piped water to every household in Telangana at the end of his five year term, as a party, the TRS will not run for re-elections. Through Mission Bhagiratha we are providing safe and clean water. My father also said that he does not want women to walk a mile to fetch water. This way they can save one or two hours, and that time can be dedicated to the family. 

You must have witnessed the Telangana agitation from its inception when your father Mr K Chandrasekhar Rao launched the TRS party in April 2001?

In 1969, three hundred and sixty nine students were gunned down when they agitated for a separate state of Telangana. Since then no one dared raise a voice. When my father started talking about it around the year 2000, it was a tricky subject. We had to bring in the issue of separating from A.P. without sounding anti-national at any point. My father managed to win over the intellectuals, lawyers, students, professionals with the way he explained why Telangana was need. He has great oratory skills. He connected with them in the Telangana dialect, and showed them a future that would make their lives better, and prosperous. It was tough, but he’s seen the state through. Now we’ll take things to the next level.