HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Friday said that the Congress never promised to waive farm loans in 100 days of assuming office. Vikramarka, however, said that the Congress government was committed to waiving farm loans.
At a media interaction here, the deputy chief minister condemned the claims of Union Minister and BJP state president G Kishan Reddy that the Centre released Rs 10 lakh crore for Telangana. He said that Telangana has received Rs 3.7 lakh crore, a sum that it was entitled to.
Reacting to a question on state finances, the deputy chief minister, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said that former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, during the Assembly elections, sought the permission of the Election Commission to release Rs 7,000 crore towards Rythu Bandhu but never released the amount. “However, when Congress took reins of the government, the state treasury was showing a negative balance. Where did this Rs 7,000 crore go? KCR should answer this to the people,” he said.
Responding to a question on power, Vikramarka said that there were no power cuts in the state. He said that a false narrative has been circulating on social media of power cuts. Stating that the Telangana government is now purchasing power at the rate of Rs 10 per unit against the Rs 20 in the BRS regime, Vikramarka said that the state requires a new energy policy. He said that the government is developing a system to handle peak demand of even 30,000 MW.
Holding the previous BRS government responsible for the drought-like situation in the state, Vikramarka said that the previous government released water from the reservoirs only to get electoral advantage. “To get electoral benefit, the BRS government unnecessarily released water from irrigation projects. They should have preserved water in Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects to meet the demand in summer. But they have acted irresponsibly,” he said. The deputy chief minister also said that he would tour the regions where he had undertaken padayatra before the Assembly elections to fulfil promises he had made to the people.