He said that they were not going full throttle at the Telangana government as it had been only 45 days since the Congress came to power.
Published Jan 17, 2024 | 8:12 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 17, 2024 | 8:23 PM
Former Telangana finance minister T Harish Rao. (TrsHarish/Facebook)
Former Telangana minister and BRS leader T Harish Rao on Wednesday, 17 January, said that his party was waiting for the 100-day deadline that the Congress had imposed on itself for implementation of its six guarantees before speaking up.
“We are waiting for the expiry of the deadline. Had there been no deadline, we would have flayed the Congress alive by now,” said the former minister at the Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha constituency review meeting in Hyderabad.
He said that they were not going full throttle at the state government as it had been only 45 days since the Congress came to power.
The BRS, after its electoral reversals, bounced back quickly and was holding review meetings to prepare for the Lok Sabha elections, he said.
The BRS leader said the Congress was sure to falter on its six guarantees.
“To implement all the poll-eve promises, they would need at least ₹3.5 lakh crore annually at a time when the state budget is about ₹2.9 lakh crore,” said Rao.
He recalled how the Congress government in neighbouring Karnataka was struggling to implement its five guarantees.
The Karnataka government’s financial advisor Basavaraj Rayaredy recently said that the state had no money to deliver on its poll-eve promises.
In Telangana, too, days were not far off when the Congress leaders would coolly break the news that they had no money to honour the promises they made, said Rao.
Harish Rao said the BRS need not remain depressed since there is always a silver lining to even the darkest cloud.
“In most states, the Congress never came to power twice in succession. They lost elections in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Change of government is common and the people may not need any strong motive to reject the government in power,” he said, trying to convey that the BRS could look forward to better days in future.
He said BRS supremo and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao had kept himself away from traditional politics as he wanted the state to usher in a new era in public service.
The party workers feel that this shift might have done some damage to its prospects in the recent Assembly elections. No one can dispute the fact that under the tutelage of KCR, the state had witnessed all-round development.
Rao said Telangana would benefit only when the BRS won in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“This is a crucial time and BRS MPs must be in Parliament to raise the issues of the state. The problems that the bifurcation of state had thrown up are still festering, and we must fight for them,” he said
Harish Rao also took a swipe at Congress leaders for their politics of “hugs and handshakes” with the BJP leaders in the Union government without putting pressure on them to resolve interstate issues.
“The Union government has already expressed helplessness in giving national project status for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS),” Rao said.
Throwing a punch at BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Harish Rao said that the saffron party leader had admitted to having a covert understanding with the Congress.
“Bandi, like a Brahma Gnani, is saying that the BRS might pull down the Congress government in the state. In fact, it is the BJP which has a history of pulling the rug from under the Opposition party-led governments in other states,” he said.
He recalled how BJP’s emissaries were caught red-handed while they were luring BRS MLAs to jump ship for pecuniary considerations in the recent past.
Harish Rao said that the BRS government had worked with a vision, laying equal emphasis on development and welfare, which led to a drastic fall in poverty.
If it is three percent in Telangana, it is nine percent in Gujarat from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails. Niti Aayog’s findings are a testament to the great rule that the BRS had given to the state of Telangana, he said.
He took potshots at the Congress government for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s Davos visit.
He recalled the statement of state minister Uttam Reddy who opposed — when he was in the Opposition — the Davos visit of former minister KT Rama Rao saying that it was a waste of public money
“Did the team led by the chief minister attend the World Economic Forum meetings at Davos to tell the world economic powers not to invest in Telangana since it is mired in debts?” he asked, tongue in cheek.
