Implementation of Six Guarantees creating difference of opinion in TS Cabinet?

Party sources reported a tense atmosphere during Thursday's State Cabinet meeting as a handful of Ministers engaged in a heated debate with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

Hyderabad: According to party sources, the State Cabinet meeting on Thursday witnessed a heated debate between a few Ministers and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

After Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy announced that efforts were being made to launch a few more guarantees from December 28, the Congress party formation day, the Cabinet meeting chaired by Revanth Reddy is said to have discussed the expenditure for implementing the six guarantees.

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They came to a conclusion that implementation of the guarantees in letter and spirit would require a budget that would be at least three times the present annual budget.

For this, the Chief Minister is learnt to have suggested that conditions should be applied in implementation of the schemes. He is also said to have recommended that Rythu Bandhu, the farm input subsidy, should be restricted to farmers owning five acres and not those who have more land.

Regarding the Maha Lakshmi free bus travel scheme too, the Chief Minister is learnt to have asked for imposing restrictions and reducing the number of buses. This was to cut down the losses.
However, these suggestions and instructions apparently did not go well with his Ministers with Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao raising objections stating that during the elections, the Congress had declared implementation of the guarantees without any limitations.

“We had promised implementation of the schemes to all without any conditions. It will be unfair if any conditions are imposed now,” he is learnt to have said.

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy too supported the Agriculture Minister. However, reacting sharply, the Chief Minister wanted the Agriculture Minister to then come up with solutions.

“As a senior Minister, please explain how the promises should be implemented,” he is said to have asked the Minister.

In reply, Nageswara Rao countered Revanth Reddy, asking how the promises were made to the people without any basic calculations. As the tone of the discussion appeared to be changing, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy intervened and tried to control things. Amidst the heated debate, the Cabinet set aside the implementation of guarantees topic and approved Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s address for Friday. The meeting then concluded abruptly, the sources said.