BRS leader Harish Rao challenges Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s claims on Telangana’s finances

Accuses Congress government of misleading public on debts, blaming previous BRS regime to cover up its inability to fulfil electoral promises

Hyderabad: Countering Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy‘s remarks on the State’s debts in the Assembly, former Minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao challenged him to a debate on the State’s finances and governance. He charged the Congress government with misleading the public on debts and blaming the previous BRS regime to cover up its inability to fulfil electoral promises.

Dismissing Revanth Reddy’s claims on Telangana’s debt, Harish cited statistics from the Congress government’s own White Paper. “The total debt taken by the BRS government, including the Covid-19 pandemic years, was Rs 4.17 lakh crore, i.e. Rs 41,000 crore per year. But in a single year, the Congress government took Rs 1.58 lakh crore loan and did not initiate any concrete programmes. Are you ready for a debate in the Assembly?” he asked, stating that the Congress was using debt as an excuse to evade poll promises.

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The BRS MLA said before the Assembly polls, Revanth Reddy had accused the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao of exploiting the poor with LRS and promised to make it free. “But now, he has backtracked and is forcing people to pay hefty amounts. If you have integrity, implement it for free or admit your deceit,” he charged.

Similarly, he slammed the Congress for backtracking on its Pharma City stance. “Before the elections, you promised to return lands. Instead, your government is acquiring 15,000 acres in addition to the existing 15,000 acres,” he said, charging Revanth Reddy with misleading farmers on the crop loan waiver. He also challenged the Chief Minister to accompany him to any Assembly constituency to verify whether crop loan waivers were complete.

Harish said the Chief Minister was aligning with the BJP and following Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s footsteps in Telangana attempting to please him by working as a BJP covert in the Congress. He pointed out that while Rahul Gandhi criticised the Prime Minister stating that “Chowkidar chor hai”, Revanth Reddy called him “Bade bhai.” “Who is lying — Rahul Gandhi or Revanth Reddy?” he asked, stating that the Congress’ defeat in the recent MLC elections was a slap on Revanth Reddy’s governance.

He slammed Revanth Reddy for mortgaging Telangana’s interests before the Centre and also taking credit for achievements of the previous BRS regime. Despite his claims of maintaining friendly-relations with the Centre, he said the Chief Minister had no noteworthy achievement till date.

Harish also rubbished Revanth Reddy’s remarks about competition between him and BRS working president KT Rama Rao for the Opposition leader’s post, declaring that they were committed to defeat Revanth Reddy in the elections and make Chandrashekhar Rao Chief Minister again. “Both me and Rama Rao are disciplined foot soldiers who strictly follow our party president’s orders,” he said.