Harish Rao accuses Revanth Reddy of failing farmers and misusing public funds
BRS leader T Harish Rao launched a sharp attack on Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accusing the Congress government of neglecting farmers, halting welfare schemes, increasing public burdens and failing to complete irrigation projects, while promising a strong political comeback for the BRS.
Nagarkurnool: BRS Legislature Party deputy leader T Harish Rao flayed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accusing him of threatening a national bank, cheating farmers with false promises and spending public money on personal comforts while denying welfare to the poor. Stating that the people of Telangana want a government of schemes and not scams, he vowed to win all 14 seats in undivided Palamuru and defeat Revanth Reddy in Kodangal in the next Assembly election.
Addressing the party cadre in Atchampet on Monday, Harish Rao said Revanth Reddy had threatened to withdraw the State government’s deposits from State Bank of India (SBI) after the bank approached the High Court over the alleged illegal auction of its land. “If RBI and the World Bank also question him, will he ban them too? He will probably open a ‘Kondal Reddy Bank’,” he said, adding that Revanth Reddy and his brothers had looted the State enough to start their own bank.
The BRSLP deputy leader said the Congress government had withheld Rythu Bharosa payments amounting to Rs 29,350 crore to farmers. He said Rythu Bima had been suspended for four months, with 7,600 farmers still awaiting payments. “Promises of a Rs 2 lakh loan waiver, fine rice bonus and 24-hour free power have remained unfulfilled,” he remarked.
Referring to the government’s decision to procure crops in line with Central guidelines, he questioned the fate of farmers cultivating crops beyond the notified limits. He said paddy procurement during the Kharif season was also uncertain. “Revanth Reddy is not a leader, but a cheat. He is a puppet of middlemen and millers,” he said.
Questioning the government’s claims of a funds shortage, Harish Rao said Rs 100 crore was spent on a guest house near Revanth Reddy’s Jubilee Hills residence and another Rs 17 crore on iron fencing around it, while fee reimbursement for students had been completely stopped. “An entire generation of students is paying the price for the Chief Minister’s publicity campaigns in neighbouring States,” he said.
The BRS leader listed Singareni, power, HAM roads, coal, Gurukul tenders and land irregularities as evidence of what he described as a scam-ridden Congress rule. He also criticised increases in fuel prices, liquor prices, registration charges, transport fees and other levies, which, he said, imposed an additional burden on the public.
“Revanth Reddy is bleeding the public through relentless taxation. His five-year rule will be cursed for 50 years,” he said.
Harish Rao said no major pending irrigation project had been completed in the last two-and-a-half years and Telangana’s interests in river water issues were being compromised. He asserted that the BRS would continue to expose what he termed the failures and deceptions of the Congress government.
The meeting was attended by former Ministers V Srinivas Goud and S Niranjan Reddy, BRS general secretary RS Praveen Kumar, MLC Naveen Reddy and former MLAs Marri Janardan Reddy and Ala Venkateswar Reddy, among others.
