Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao objected to the proposal of setting up Telangana Rythu Power Distribution Company Limited (TGRPDCL) and asked the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (TGERC) to reject the licence application.In his letter to TGERC on Wednesday, Harish Rao stated that electricity was one of the core reasons behind the Telangana movement, along with water, funds and jobs. He recalled that the power sector reforms implemented during the united AP regime had led to the Basheerbagh firing incident and that K Chandrasekhar Rao had resigned from the deputy speaker post and launched the second phase of the Telangana movement in protest against the burden imposed on farmers through electricity charges.Harish Rao said that after the formation of Telangana, the BRS govt gave top priority to the power sector and strengthened it with massive investments, enabling Telangana to provide uninterrupted and quality free electricity to farmers from January 1, 2018 — a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country.However, he alleged that after coming to power, the Congress govt had pushed the power sector into uncertainty through unplanned decisions. He expressed concern that the proposal to create a third discom in the name of “Rythu Discom” had created fear and confusion among farmers and electricity consumers and expressed doubts that it was an attempt to move the electricity sector towards privatisation through impractical policies.In his objections submitted to the Commission, Harish Rao raised several concerns over the proposed third discom. “How did the state govt announce that the Rythu Discom would begin operations from June 2 even before the public hearing process was completed,” he asked, alleging that pressure was being exerted on the Commission to grant the licence.He pointed out that neither farmers, farmers’ organisations, public representatives nor power utilities had demanded a separate farmers’ discom. There was also no cabinet sub-committee recommendation supporting such a move, Rao claimed.Harish Rao said the govt itself admitted in GO No. 44 that existing discoms were facing financial stress due to the gap between billing rates and cost of service, proving that the proposal was financially driven rather than aimed at farmers’ welfare.He urged the Commission to conduct public hearings across all districts of Telangana instead of limiting consultations to Hyderabad, as the decision would impact all sections of electricity consumers in the state.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Bakrid wishes, messages and eid 2026