Telangana: Governor Jishnu Dev Varma’s speech is bundle of lies, say BRS leaders

Speaking to mediapersons, former Minister T Harish Rao said the speech was filled with "half-truths, lies, and untruths," and failed to address the real concerns of farmers, unemployed youth and marginalised sections

Hyderabad: Governor Jishnu Dev Varma’s speech at the Telangana State Legislature on Wednesday has drawn flak from the opposition, with senior BRS leaders slamming it as a scripted exercise to glorify Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, while ignoring pressing issues faced by the people.

Speaking to mediapersons, former Minister T Harish Rao said the speech was filled with “half-truths, lies, and untruths,” and failed to address the real concerns of farmers, unemployed youth and marginalised sections.

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“There is no direction or vision. The speech is merely a repetition of last year’s, despite a change in the Governor. The Congress has a history of using even the Governor to spread lies,” he said, pointing out that while the speech began with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi suggesting to serve the people, Revanth Reddy was busy serving the interests of his Delhi bosses and also mentor and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over the needs of the people of Telangana.

The former Minister questioned the Congress government’s claims of transforming farmers’ lives, pointing out that farmers were beaten up and arrested for protesting in places like Lagacherla and Nyalkal.

“Loan waivers are a lie, and even the promised Rs.12,000 under the Rythu Bharosa scheme has not reached all farmers’ accounts,” he said, also ridiculing the government for taking credit for irrigation projects and crop production records that were achieved during the previous BRS rule.

Slamming the Congress governance, Harish Rao said key welfare schemes for handloom weavers and other vulnerable groups were scrapped, and that the much-touted “inclusive development” was nothing more than “self-service and Delhi service.”

He criticised the installation of Rajiv Gandhi’s statue opposite the Secretariat, the location which was designated for Telangana Thalli’s statue, and insulting the State’s cultural identity.

BRS MLC K Kavitha also hit out at the Congress government, charging the Gandhi family with remembering Telangana only during elections. “People of Telangana voted for the Congress after seeing the guarantees signed by the Gandhi family, not because of local leaders. But now, none of those promises have been implemented, with the Gandhi family members feigning ignorance,” she said.

She pointed out that despite borrowing Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 15 months, the government had failed to deliver on notable assurances, including the Rs 2,500 monthly allowance for women. “The Governor’s speech was a clear attempt to mask failures with flowery words. We will expose the government in the coming days of the budget session,” she asserted.