Telangana Assembly passes resolution against Centre’s discrimination

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the State government had decided to boycott the Niti Ayog meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27.

Hyderabad: After nearly five hours of heated arguments between the ruling and opposition members over securing funds from the Centre, the State Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution appealing to the Centre to render justice to Telangana by amending the budget proposals in the ongoing budget debates.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the State government had decided to boycott the Niti Ayog meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) extended support to the resolution introduced by the Chief Minister. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that the resolution be withdrawn stating that the State government was trying to mislead the people despite the Centre allotting funds under different programmes. The BJP members staged a walkout from the House.

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Tempers ran high after BRS members demanded the State government to stage an indefinite strike at Jantar Mantar against the Centre’s discrimination towards Telangana. Heeding to the BRS demand, the Chief Minister demanded that Leader of Opposition K Chandrashekhar Rao should join the strike. In reply, former Minister T Harish Rao asked what the Chief Minister and ruling Congress would do if the opposition staged a protest to protect Telangana’s interests.

Later, coming down heavily on the Centre on its discrimination towards Telangana, the Chief Minister appealed to all the members to set aside their political interests and strive for the State’s interests. He also said the future action plan would be discussed with all members. It was the responsibility of the union Government for integrated and holistic development of all the States. However, the union government had forsaken the federal spirit and injustice was meted out to Telangana in the union budget, he said.

Stating that the unfulfilled promises made in Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act had a negative impact on Telangana’s development, the Chief Minister said several appeals were made to the Prime Minister and union ministers to allocate funds to Telangana. Yet, the union government neglected the State government’s pleas.