KTR tears into Revanth Reddy over Congress government’s flop show

Terming this a historic humiliation for Telangana, he blamed the Congress government for admitting to financial mismanagement even before presenting the State budget.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Monday lashed out at the Congress government, calling it a monumental failure after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy admitted to a staggering Rs 71,000 crore shortfall in the 2024-25 budget estimates. Terming this a historic humiliation for Telangana, he blamed the Congress government for admitting to financial mismanagement even before presenting the State budget.

In an informal media interaction at the Assembly on Monday, Rama Rao attributed Telangana’s financial decline to Revanth Reddy’s faulty policies.

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“The Chief Minister himself has confirmed the bitter truth – Telangana is not rising but falling. His decisions have crippled agriculture, industry and investments. If the economy was truly growing, why has revenue plummeted?” he asked, charging the Congress with sabotaging Telangana’s progress out of political vendetta. Stating that the closure of the Kaleshwaram project was driven by hatred for former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao rather than practical reasons, he said this move had crippled agriculture and shattered the rural economy.

The BRS leader ridiculed Revanth Reddy’s claims of strong ties with the Centre, questioning what Telangana had gained from it.

“What has he brought from Delhi besides empty rhetoric? His meetings with the Central Ministers yielded no benefits. If Telangana was handed over as a state of gold, Revanth has reduced it to rubble, calling it a ‘cancer’ on public platforms,” he remarked, adding that in its attempts to erase Chandrashekhar Rao’s legacy, the Congress government had destroyed agriculture and allied sectors.

“In their desperate attempt to undo everything the BRS achieved, they are destroying livelihoods and rural economy,” he said.

Also charging the Congress regime with corruption, he said Revanth Reddy was diverting State funds to the Congress high command. “The Chief Minister is busy sending funds to Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal while Telangana suffers,” he said, questioning the silence of both the Congress and BJP on BJP MLA T Raja Singh’s allegations of secret meetings between BJP and Congress leaders.

The BRS working president criticised Revanth Reddy’s focus on gossip rather than governance. “We don’t care about his Delhi visits or meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. What matters is what Telangana has gained, and the answer is nothing,” he stated, also alleging that the Chief Minister was ruining Telangana with his incompetence and realising the allegations of the Andhra rulers during State formation.

He also questioned Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the alleged atrocities under Revanth Reddy’s government. Demanding a response on the TDR (Transferable Development Rights) scam involving a group of realtors, he pointed to ongoing protests by University of Hyderabad students against the auction of 400 acres of TGIIC lands. Slamming the Congress government’s priorities, Rama Rao ridiculed its plans to host the Miss World beauty pageant as a priority amid a power crisis and an agricultural downturn. “He scrapped the Formula-E event, causing a Rs.46 crore loss, but is ready to spend Rs 250 crore on a pageant,” he said, vowing that the next BRS government would probe the financial loss caused by the Congress’s hasty decision to cancel the Formula-E event.

Criticising Revanth Reddy’s crackdown on journalists, the former Minister said, “When YouTubers supported him, they were journalists. Now that they expose his failures, they are not? This is his respect for press freedom. When he threatens to strip and thrash journalists, no one speaks up. This is dictatorship.” He also questioned how the Chief Minister planned to punish people abroad if they criticised him on social media.

Rama Rao blamed the Congress for misleading the public with false promises. “They promised to make the poor millionaires, but instead, farmers are struggling, students are without scholarships, and industries are shutting down. The Congress has broken every promise,” he charged.

Calling out the Chief Minister’s double standards, he reminded him of the cases filed against BRS leaders. “Didn’t Revanth remember democratic values when he filed 15 cases against me? Does he care only for his family and not others? He dragged our families into politics with baseless allegations,” he said.

He warned Revanth Reddy against making defamatory remarks, hinting at exposing the latter’s secrets. “We were in power for 10 years and are aware of his adventures. If he does not mend his ways, we will not hesitate exposing him with evidence, including photographs,” he declared.

Taking a dig, he likened the Chief Minister to Nathuram Godse for his attacks on Chandrashekhar Rao. “Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi. Revanth Reddy, who follows Godse’s ideology, is making similar comments against the former Chief Minister. But the people will not tolerate this,” he cautioned.