Telangana Assembly session: BRS MLA Harish Rao exposes contradictory claims of Revanth Reddy, Bhatti Vikramarka on finances

Also comes down heavily on Congress government for slashing allocations for farmers, marginalised communities, welfare schemes

Hyderabad: Senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao on Thursday exposed the glaring contradictions in statements by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his deputy, Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.

Addressing the media after the Appropriation Bill was passed by voice vote in the Assembly, Harish Rao said he wanted to thank Bhatti Vikramarka for revealing the truth in the Assembly, by stating that the Congress government had spent Rs 88,564 crore to repay loans during its 16-month rule, a statement made by Bhatti at 7.44 pm.

---

The Chief Minister, meanwhile, speaking at 3.58 pm the same day in the same Assembly, had claimed that Rs 1,53,359 crore was paid towards debts and interest. “This contradiction within a few hours exposes the inconsistency in their claims,” the former Finance Minister said, adding that it was clear that Bhatti Vikramarka was speaking the truth, whereas the Chief Minister inflated figures by including corporation borrowings as well. Even the CAG report, tabled in the Assembly had on page 12 supported Bhatti Vikramarka’s figures.

“According to Form B-5 and the CAG report, total debt incurred during the BRS regime stood at Rs 5.17 lakh crore. However, after excluding corporation loans and legacy debt from previous governments, the actual government-incurred debt is Rs 4,18,284 crore, including projects like Kaleshwaram and Mission Bhagiratha,” he said, pointing out that even by the Congress government’s own Budget figures, the total debt under the BRS rule was Rs 4,22,674 crore.

“This means the BRS government incurred an average annual debt of Rs 42,000 crore, whereas the Congress government, in just one year, has borrowed a whopping Rs 1.48 lakh crore,” he said.

Harish Rao also came down heavily on the Congress government for slashing allocations for farmers, marginalised communities and welfare schemes. He pointed out that Bhatti Vikramarka had announced an allocation of Rs 15,000 crore for the Rythu Bharosa scheme in the Budget. However, only Rs 4,500 crore was spent. This means Rs 11,000 crore was effectively cut from the scheme, causing deep injustice to farmers.

“Similarly, while the government promised Rs 31,000 crore for loan waivers, it allocated only Rs 20,000 crore. Even within that, Rs 12,000 crore of Rythu Bandhu funds were diverted and merged into the loan waiver amount, effectively bringing the actual waiver down to only Rs 8,000 crore. What was promised as Rs 31,000 crore was now only Rs 8,000 crore in reality,” he said.

For the Fasal Bima Yojana, though Rs 1,300 crore was allocated in the Budget, not a single rupee has been released. In the last Budget alone, Rs 23,000 crore worth of cuts have been made to farmer welfare, pushing them into distress. At this rate, the total cuts to farmers over five years would amount to Rs 1 lakh crore, Harish Rao remarked, also pointing out that though the government had promised to build 4.5 lakh houses with a Budget of Rs 22,500 crore, not a single rupee was spent so far.

“This implies a direct denial of benefits worth Rs 22,500 crore to SCs, STs and BCs. For minorities, Rs 3,000 crore was allocated, but only Rs 1,100 crore was released — a cut of Rs 1,900 crore,” he pointed out.

The former Finance Minister also said the Congress government failed to release Rs 8,000 crore for Rythu Bandhu during the Kharif season, while in the current Rabi season, only Rs 3,500 crore was released instead of Rs 8,000 crore, resulting in another Rs 4,500-crore cut. “Fact is that Rs 12,000 crore due under Rythu Bandhu has been diverted,” he said.

---

Punching holes in Congress Budget

• Congress borrowed Rs 1.48 lakh cr in one year, more than triple the BRS annual average
• Contradictory claims by CM, Finance Minister on debt repayment figures
• Slashed allocations for farmers, marginalised communities, welfare schemes
• Slashed Rs 11,000 cr from Rythu Bharosa despite promising Rs 15,000 cr
• Loan waiver promise of Rs 31,000 cr reduced to Rs 8,000 cr
• Rs 1,300 cr allocated for Fasal Bima but not a single rupee released
• Rs 23,000 cr cut from farmer welfare in a single budget year
• 4.5 lakh houses promised, Rs 22,500 cr allocated, but zero spending so far
• Rs 12,000 cr from Rythu Bandhu diverted