Congress spreading falsehoods on State debt to hide failures, scams: Harish Rao
Former minister T Harish Rao on Saturday accused the Congress government in Telangana of spreading "false propaganda" on the State’s debt burden to divert attention from governance failures and corruption.
Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao on Saturday accused the Congress government of spreading “false propaganda” on Telangana’s debt burden to divert public attention from its governance failures, unfulfilled promises and alleged corruption.
Addressing a press conference, Harish Rao alleged that the Revanth Reddy government had introduced a practice of paying hefty brokerage commissions while raising loans through government corporations.
He claimed that the government was mobilising loans by mortgaging valuable public lands and paying hundreds of crores as brokerage to intermediaries.
Citing replies furnished in the Assembly, Harish Rao said the government had paid Rs.170 crore as brokerage for raising Rs.10,000 crore by mortgaging lands belonging to the Telangana Government Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC). He further alleged that the government was planning to raise another Rs.20,000 crore by mortgaging Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) lands.
“If Rs. 170 crore is paid as brokerage for every Rs. 10,000 crore borrowed, the brokerage for Rs. 30,000 crore alone would exceed Rs. 510 crore. If borrowings worth Rs.70,000 crore are raised through corporations and utilities, brokerage payments could cross Rs. 1,700 crore,” he claimed.
“Is this brokerage or bribery? The government must answer,” Harish Rao demanded, alleging that no other State government had resorted to paying such high commissions merely to raise loans.
The BRS Deputy Floor Leader also accused Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka of presenting misleading figures on the State’s debt burden to shift focus from the Congress government’s performance.
He maintained that the BRS had consistently presented the same figures on the State’s borrowings in the Assembly, public meetings and before the media, unlike the Congress government, which he alleged had repeatedly changed its debt estimates.
Recalling the Congress’ pre-election claims, Harish Rao referred to Bhatti Vikramarka’s earlier statement that the party had vast experience in mobilising financial resources.
He said that even during the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown, former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had never claimed that Telangana was financially bankrupt.
“The Congress government has not faced a pandemic or demonetisation. Why then is the Chief Minister repeatedly speaking about financial distress?” Harish Rao asked.
Questions Congress government’s borrowing figures
Harish Rao pointed out that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had informed the Assembly on March 18 that the Congress government had accumulated borrowings of Rs.3.47 lakh crore.
However, he said Bhatti Vikramarka later stated that the Congress government had borrowed only Rs. 1.77 lakh crore.
“If the Chief Minister’s figures are correct, how did the borrowings suddenly reduce within four months? Which figure should the people believe?” he asked.
According to publicly available financial data up to June 30, 2026, Harish Rao claimed that the Congress government had raised nearly Rs.4.5 lakh crore within 31 months.
BRS borrowings stood at Rs.4.17 lakh crore
Presenting what he described as official records, Harish Rao rejected the Congress government’s allegation that the BRS administration had borrowed more than Rs.8.21 lakh crore between 2014 and 2023.
He alleged that the Congress had included loans inherited at the time of Telangana’s formation as well as borrowings made after the Congress assumed office in December 2023 while calculating the previous government’s debt.
According to Harish Rao, Telangana inherited Rs.84,268 crore in FRBM and government-guaranteed loans at the time of State formation. He further alleged that borrowings of Rs.15,118 crore made by the Congress government between December 7, 2023 and March 31, 2024 had also been wrongly attributed to the BRS.
After excluding these amounts from the outstanding liabilities as of December 7, 2023, Harish Rao claimed that the BRS government’s total borrowings stood at Rs.4,17,495 crore, which, he said, was the same figure he had presented in the Assembly.
He further contended that the Congress government’s White Paper, State Budget documents, reports of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) supported the BRS’ position.
Quoting the CAG report, Harish Rao said government-serviced off-budget borrowings stood at Rs.1,20,944 crore as of March 2024. After excluding liabilities inherited at the time of Telangana’s formation, the figure came down to Rs.1,09,335 crore. When added to FRBM borrowings of Rs.3,01,484 crore, the total borrowings worked out to around Rs.4.10 lakh crore, he claimed.
