BRS MPs flay Centre for ignoring Telangana in Budget

The party has decided to put up a strong fight in Parliament and demand the Union government to fulfill the just demands of the State

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi MPs on Wednesday slammed the Centre for not allocating anything for Telangana in the union Budget. The party has decided to put up a strong fight in the Parliament and demand the union government to fulfill the just demands of the State.

Speaking to mediapersons in Delhi after the Budget presentation, BRS Parliamentary party leader K Keshava Rao said there was nothing new in the budget presented by the Centre. He said the union Finance Minister not even once uttered the name of Telangana in her entire budget speech that lasted for nearly an hour-and-a-half. He also said the Centre had given allocations to both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but not to Telangana. He added that keeping the elections in mind, the Modi government made allocations to select States for political mileage.

“In case of Telangana, the Centre is not even giving a step-motherly treatment. The union government is replicating our schemes, but refuses to support our endeavours.

Unemployment and skill development found no place in the budget speech. Funds for agriculture and allied sector have been cut down and the MGNREGS outlay has been reduced by nearly Rs.30,000 crore compared to last year,” he said.

Keshava Rao said the budget speech was full of contradictions. While the union Finance Minister spoke about rural development, funds for MGNREGS were reduced by nearly 30 percent. Similarly, women empowerment was promised, but no funds were allocated, he said. “This budget is just an empty promise with focus on elections,” he added.

BRS Lok Sabha floor leader MP Nama Nageswara Rao slammed the Centre for neglecting Telangana in the budget. He said the Centre ignored all the requests from the State government over funds for the Kaleshwaram project. He ridiculed the Centre’s promotion of ‘digital agriculture’ and demanded to know what was its use in the absence of irrigation projects, support price and other incentives to farmers.

“The union Finance Minister spoke about Shree Anna covering millets, ragi, jowar etc as if no one has cultivated or consumed them earlier in the country. Throughout the budget, she was only beating around the bush and no concrete steps were initiated to address the economic crisis in the country,” he said, also pointing out that despite repeated requests from the BRS MPs, the union government which did not allocate at least one medical college to the State, has now denied allocation of even a nursing college.

MPs KR Suresh Reddy, G Ranjith Reddy, Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, Kotha Prabhakar Reddy and others also spoke.