BRS terms Budget a numbers game, says Six Guarantees buried under inflated outlay

BRS leader T Harish Rao termed the Telangana Budget 2026-27 a “bogus budget”, alleging failure to implement Six Guarantees, recycled allocations and rising debt. He questioned welfare spending, demanded a white paper and challenged the government to prove its claims

Hyderabad: The BRS on Friday launched a sharp attack on the State Budget for 2026-27 presented by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, with BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao calling it a ‘bogus budget’. For the third consecutive year, the Congress government had failed to honour its poll promises, particularly the Six Guarantees, he said.

Addressing a press conference at the Assembly media hall, Harish Rao said the government increased the size of the Budget only on paper while avoiding clear allocations for key guarantees promised to the people. Apart from increasing the outlay by about Rs 20,000 crore and adding a few pages to the Budget speech, there was no sincerity in implementing welfare commitments. Several schemes announced in the previous Budget were repeated without actual spending during the current financial year, he said, citing the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme, for which Rs 6,000 crore had again been shown despite no funds being released earlier, and the Indiramma Atmiya Bharosa programme, which remained unimplemented.

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“Numbers are being recycled, not spent,” he remarked, stating that the government failed to provide relief to pensioners, RTC workers, Singareni employees, farmers, women, minorities and backward classes. There was no clarity on pension hike, farm support, loan waivers or unemployment assistance either.

Harish Rao pointed out that the allocation for the Six Guarantees had been reduced from Rs 56,084 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 50,713 crore in 2026-27. The government announced new social security pensions for two lakh persons under the Cheyutha scheme, but the allocation remained at Rs 14,861 crore, the same as last year. “When the allocation is unchanged, how will new pensions be given?” he asked, adding that funds for the Indiramma Indlu housing scheme had been cut by half compared to the previous year.

Questioning the fiscal claims in the Budget, Harish Rao said the State’s debt rose steeply in the past three years, with borrowings crossing Rs 3.5 lakh crore. During the previous BRS government, loans were used for projects such as Kaleshwaram, Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya, medical colleges, State Secretariat and roads, whereas the present government had failed to create visible assets despite obtaining huge loans. The GSDP growth rate fell from 12.5 per cent during the BRS regime to 10.7 per cent now, he said, pointing to contradictions between the Chief Minister’s remarks that the State was bankrupt and the Finance Minister’s claim of strong growth. He demanded a white paper on investments, employment and borrowings.

Harish Rao remarked that the government was taking credit for projects completed during the previous regime, including the Yadadri Thermal Power Plant, while delaying works such as the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. Slamming the Congress for discontinuing the Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme for school students by previous BRS government for last two years and now relaunching it to take credit, he called the Congress government shameless for evading payment of Rythu Bharosa for three crops and Rs 500 bonus for paddy for two crops. He challenged that if the government proves its claims, he was ready to resign else the Ministers must resign.

Calling the Budget a hollow exercise, he said the BRS would raise the issue in the Assembly and seek details on the Six Guarantees, welfare allocations and actual expenditure.