Congress neglecting Hyderabad, focused on land deals: BRS Whip KP Vivekananda

BRS Whip KP Vivekananda said that Hyderabad's progress had stalled under the 16-month Congress rule

Hyderabad: BRS Whip KP Vivekananda slammed the Congress government for neglecting Hyderabad’s development and making poor budget allocations, despite tall claims to develop the State capital. He charged Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka with presenting a “copy-paste budget” from the previous fiscal, that offers nothing substantial for the people.

Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Thursday, Vivekananda said that Hyderabad’s progress had stalled under the 16-month Congress rule. Four super-specialty hospitals planned by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao were ignored, while Metro Rail expansion to Old City and the Raidurg-Airport route had seen no progress. “However, the government is pushing land deals under the guise of the Fourth City project,” he said.

---

He highlighted poor civic maintenance, stating that 40 per cent of streetlights and a large number of CCTVs were dysfunctional, due to lack of maintenance. He also ridiculed Congress for boasting about 31 flyovers and 17 underpasses, which were mostly completed under the BRS regime.

Stating that the Congress was deliberately sidelining Hyderabad, the BRS legislator said while the State won numerous national and international awards for urban development during the BRS regime, the Congress government had not secured a single national award in this sector. He also charged Congress government with wrongly taking credit for Hyderabad’s IT boom, pointing out that IT jobs grew from 2 lakh to 10 lakh and IT exports surged from Rs 57,000 crore to Rs 2.41 lakh crore under former IT Minister KT Rama Rao’s leadership.

Vivekananda stated that Congress was prioritising land deals over development and funneling funds to Delhi instead of investing in Hyderabad. He questioned the absence of the Strategic Nala Development Plan (SNDP) in the State budget, warning that waterlogging would worsen during the monsoon. “Summer has barely started, and already tankers are supplying water to households,” he noted.