Amit Shah is Emperor of lies: KTR

Hyderabad: Calling out union Home Minister Amit Shah for his baseless allegations against the TRS government in Telangana, TRS working president and Minister KT Rama Rao termed them as a ‘pack of lies’ and far from truth. He demanded to know if the Centre was funding all the welfare and development programmes in the State as was being claimed by the BJP leaders, and why similar welfare and development was not visible in their ‘double-engine’ States like Karnataka and Gujarat.

In a point-by-point rebuttal of Shah’s allegations that Telangana a corrupt State, Rama Rao listed out a series of corruption charges in BJP-ruled States including Karnataka that was the most corrupt State in India. He termed Amit Shah ‘Abaddhala Badhshah (Emperor of lies)’ and described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘Nalayak PM’ (unworthy Prime Minister).

Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan here on Sunday, the TRS working president said: “The BJP leaders say that they are the stakeholders of the Hindu cause but a seer in Karnataka has pointed out that a 30 per cent commission has to be paid to get grants that have been sanctioned. Their own party member in Karnataka says that the party demanded Rs 2,500 crores for the Chief Minister’s post and that person is still an active member of the BJP. A party that has put positions for sale has no moral authority to comment on corruption.”

Pointing out the blatant lies uttered by Shah about development in Telangana that were in sharp contrast to the statements of his Cabinet colleagues in Parliament, Rama Rao reminded that union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweshwar Thudu was categorical in stating that there was no corruption in the construction of Kaleshwaram project. “But, Shah has something else to say,” he added.
“We supported abolition of Article 370. But Amit Shah who himself was present in Parliament on that day, claims that we did not support them. People can decide who is speaking the truth,” he said.

Financial allocations

Regarding financial allocations to Telangana, the TRS working president said the State had paid around Rs 3 lakh crore tax to the Centre, but received only Rs 1.65 lakh crore in the last eight years. He ridiculed the BJP leaders for putting up different numbers in this regard. He reminded that while BJP MP D Arvind claimed that the Centre gave over Rs 3 lakh crore to the State, Amit Shah on Saturday said they had given Rs 2.57 lakh crore. “Amit Shah should thank Telangana citizens as their taxes are being used for the development of BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, etc,” he added.

NDA’s steering in the hands of corporates

In response to the union Home Minister’s allegations that the TRS’ steering was in the hands of AIMIM, Rama Rao said the TRS’ steering was in the safe control of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, but the NDA’s steering was in the hands of corporates whose loans were written off. The union government has written off nearly Rs 12 lakh crores that are due from several businessmen and corporates.
In a blistering attack against Modi, he said the BJP government has no problem in looting the public by increasing petrol prices. “When the country is run by a ‘Naalayak‘ Prime minister, the corporate companies get their loans waived and the common citizens suffer immensely due to the price hike. The Centre collected Rs 26.5 lakh crore from common people through fuel price hike and waived off Rs 11.68 lakh crore of debt taken by businessmen friendly with them,” he added.

Borrowings

While the BJP criticised the Telangana government for taking loans, India’s total debt was expected to rise from Rs 53 lakh crores in March 2014 to Rs 153 lakh crores by March 2023, the Minister pointed out, adding that while Telangana recorded GSDP of 23.5 per cent and was ranked 23rd among the 28 States in terms of loans, the Centre utilised the borrowings to waive off loans obtained by the corporate companies. “All loans taken by the Telangana government were utilised for the benefit of the public in various projects like Mission Bhagiratha, Kaleshwaram project, and others,” he added.

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