‘Don’t tarnish image of Telangana’: Akbaruddin Owaisi leads Opposition charge, fact-checks Congress

On Wednesday evening, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, too, deemed the Congress’ White Paper an attempt to tarnish the image of Telangana.

In an impassioned plea to the entire Telangana Assembly during the day, AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi urged its members not to tarnish the image of Telangana, whose interests should come first for everyone.

In an emotion-filled dissection of the Congress government’s white paper on the state’s finances, he said that he failed to understand its purpose.

With his impassioned speech and fact-check of numbers in the White Paper, Owaisi set the narrative for the Opposition to turn the tables on the Congress government.

AIMIM Floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi Speech on the discussion on White Paper of Telangana Finances#AIMIM #AkbaruddinOwaisi #TelanganaAssembly #Hyderabad #Telangana pic.twitter.com/Nu8Gk4kOgM

— AIMIM (@aimim_national) December 20, 2023

Also read: BRS misled financial institutions, raised ‘hidden debt’, says Revanth

Praise for Telangana

Owaisi said that no attempt should be made that would erode the state’s integrity and credibility. “For me, my Telangana is important. Everything else comes next,” he said.

Owaisi also wondered aloud if the tussles between the political parties to further their interests were harming the interests of the state.

He said that contrary to the projection being made by the new Congress government, Telangana had a vibrant and resilient economy.

He recalled former united Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who said, at the time of the bifurcation of the state, that Telangana would be in ruins if the division took place.

“Reddy had said that Telangana would plunge into darkness, but the fact of the matter was that only after the formation of the state had its economy begun looking up,” said Owaisi. “The condition in sectors like water and power supply had improved,” he added.

Owaisi made it clear that Telangana had great potential, and that it would not go bankrupt even if the loans piled up.

Attempting a fact-check on the figures mentioned in the White Paper, Owaisi said that there were several discrepancies.

Apart from the figures that are at variance with the numbers given by the CAG, the White Paper also contradicted its own assertions while establishing financial trends over the last decade, he said.

It was strange that the government took data from the CAG and the RBI and not from the state budget, he said.

The AIMIM leader asked the current government to take action against the officials who had fudged figures to suit what seemed to be the requirement of the White Paper.

He said he was not blindly criticising the ruling Congress, and that if it was proved that the finances had been mismanaged, he would not mind the government taking action.

Also read: Uproar in Assembly after Revanth calls KTR a ‘non-reliable Indian’

BRS counters ‘debt’ with ‘assets’

BRS, while defending the way the finances were managed during its nine-year rule, came out with an elaborate document describing the progress achieved by the state and how the party’s measures had helped it.

In its “Telangana Assets” document, the BRS narrated the growth that all sectors had recorded in the state from 2014 to 2023. The party hoped to counter Congress’ ‘debt’ narrative with its ‘assets’ claim, explaining how and where funds were utilised under its decade-long regime.

It said the government had spent ₹1,649.62 crore on new collectors’ offices in 33 districts, of which 25 have already been completed and inaugurated. Roads had been laid for a distance of 32,717 km, up from 24,248 km in 2014.

The document showed that investment in Mana Ooru Mana Badi was ₹7,289.54 crore, which improved the quality of teaching for 23,37,654 students.

After 2014, the BRS government spent heavily on employment generation, which led to 22.5 lakh people getting a livelihood, it claimed.

A pharma cluster was set up over 10,400 acres. The state was honoured with the Global Green City Award for planting 283.71 crore saplings, the document said.

The document said that for the development of temples, a sum of ₹2,800 crore was spent, of which ₹1,200 crore went to the Yadadri temple alone.

The number of beds in hospitals, which was 17,200 in 2014, increased to 34,000 by 2023. The increase in oxygen beds was from 1,400 to 34,000 and the ICUs from five to 80, were some of the highlights in the document.

The BRS government constructed an ultra-modern Telangana State Police Integrated Command and Control Centre by investing ₹585 crore, the party said, adding that it was also constructing the Palamuru Ranga Reddy irrigation project for providing water to 12.30 lakh acres.

The installed power generation capacity in the state, which was 7,778 MW in 2014, went up to 19,464 MW in 2023, the party said in its assets document.

‘White lies by propaganda machine’

Meanwhile, former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao also slammed the Congress government for “trying to tarnish the image of the most successful state” in India.

Referring to the White Paper, which claimed that Telangana’s cumulative debt burden was ₹6.7 lakh crore, Rao said it was a document of white lies.

In a message on X, he described the White Paper as a document “full of white lies and misinformation driven by a propaganda machine”.

He wrote on X, “Shame on the newly elected government for trying to tarnish the image of the most successful state… Mixing politics and economics to suit your agenda & trying to obfuscate isn’t going to cover up your hypocrisy. [sic]”

It isn’t a white paper, document full of white lies and misinformation driven by a propaganda machine. Shame on the newly elected Government for trying to tarnish the image of most successful state; Telangana

Mixing politics and economics to suit your agenda & trying to…

— KTR (@KTRBRS) December 20, 2023

“If the state is in dire straits as you claim, why is the newly elected CM wasting money on a new camp office at MCRHRD? Why is he planning on building a Telangana Bhavan at Delhi? [sic]” he asked.

He further commented, “Why isn’t your priority the fulfilment of six guarantees within 100 days? Countdown has begun for the 100 day notice. [sic]”

The White Paper

The White Paper on the state’s finances, presented in the Telangana Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday, said that the total loan amount includes off-budget borrowings.

In his initial comments, Vikramarka, also the finance minister of the state, said that the figures captured the financial anarchy that prevailed under the BRS rule during the last 10 years.

The outstanding debt of the state (without off-budget borrowings) was expected to touch ₹3,89,673 crore at the end of the financial year 2023-24.

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