‘Bade bhai Chote bhai’ camaraderie with Modi is working, claims Revanth Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has claimed that his cordial ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped secure Centre’s approval for debt restructuring and the Regional Ring Road project. He announced plans to auction Metro Rail land to raise Rs 15,000 crore but accused BJP and BRS of obstructing Metro Phase II expansion.

Hyderabad: Even as he repeated his now familiar rhetoric of a cash crunch and consequent inability to keep poll promises, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy claimed that his ‘Bade bhai Chote bhai’ camaraderie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi was working well for his government.

The statement, made during an informal chat on Friday, and which came as an embarrassment to the Congress high command that has relentlessly been targeting Modi, saw Revanth Reddy claiming that his “cordial relations” with Modi had helped him secure the Centre to approve a Rs 26,000 crore debt restructuring plan and also the northern part of the proposed Regional Ring Road.

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He also said that while former Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy had tried hard but failed to secure defence lands for executing the elevated corridor on the JBS Shamirpet route, he had managed to obtain the defence lands using his “relations” with the Centre.

“If the BJP leaders here do not create any hurdles, I will get many more projects approved,” he claimed.

With an obvious eye on the Jubilee Hills bypoll, Revanth Reddy also revealed plans to auction 250 acres that were allocated to the Hyderabad Metro Rail to mop up Rs 15,000 crore, which he said would make the Metro Rail takeover a “zero value” move for the State government.

“But instead of complimenting me for avoiding financial burden on the State exchequer, the BJP and BRS are creating hurdles for Metro Phase II expansion,” he alleged.

Interestingly, even as he made tall claims of getting debts restructured and saving the exchequer, Revanth Reddy repeated his refrain on a severe cash crunch debilitating the government.

After paying employee salaries and clearing debts, the State government was left with about Rs 5,000 crore monthly. With these funds, it has to implement welfare and development programmes, besides providing retirement benefits for government employees.

On average, every month about 1,000 employees retire from service, resulting in an additional burden of nearly Rs.1,000 crore as pensions. The State’s income was not rising and loans were not being sanctioned, he said.

“The situation is not going to change, no matter if you stage bandhs or point guns at me,” he said.