Hyderabad: Taking a jibe at Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president G Kishan Reddy’s statement of spending a night on the Musi river, Bhuvanagiri Congress MLA Kumbam Anil Kumar Reddy said the timeline was three months and not one night.

Addressing a press conference here at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday, November 16, Anil Kumar Reddy asked the Union minister to seek funds for the Musi Riverfront Development Project by spending a night in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.

Earlier in the day, Kishan Reddy emphasized that BJP leaders are willing to live near the river for three months if it means scrapping the Musi rejuvenation project, which he claims is detrimental to the poor due to forced evacuations and demolitions of their homes.

“We are not against the Musi rejuvenation project or cleaning it. But the party is against bulldozing houses belonging to the poor and evacuating them,” highlighting concerns over the displacement of families living along the river,” Kishan Reddy said.

While Kishan Reddy will be spending the night at Tulsiram Nagar in Amberpet, Eatala Rajender will be sleeping over at Ganesh Nagar in LB Nagar, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy in Rajendra Nagar, and former Zaheerabad MP BB Patil at a residential housing basthi in Afzalgunj.

In response, Anil Kumar Reddy called on Kishan Reddy to avoid politicizing the issue and focus on constructive measures.

“I urge Kishan Reddy to secure funds from the Central government for the rejuvenation of the Musi River, similar to the funding provided for Gujarat’s Sabarmati River project,” Anil Kumar said, adding that the state government is providing 2BHK houses to outsees living on the Musi river bed.