HYDERABAD: Former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s rather harsh criticism of the first full Budget presented by the Congress government after the formation of Telangana has ruffled feathers in the ruling party, whose leaders on Friday launched a blistering counterattack on the BRS supremo.
As if in one voice, Congress leaders, including several ministers, accused the former chief minister of being silent on the Union Budget, which they said had failed to allocate funds and fulfil promises made to Telangana under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.
Not satisfied with this, the ruling party leaders also accused KCR of landing Telangana in a financial crisis with misgovernance and unplanned expenditure. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers Danasari Anasuya alias Seethakka, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar and D Sridhar Babu, as well as Congress MLAs claimed that KCR left the Assembly on Thursday without hearing the full Budget presentation. They demanded the BRS chief’s response to the Union Budget.
BRS MLAs worried
The intensity of the Congress attack has left BRS MLAs concerned about the impact on the party’s image. KCR had on Thursday labelled the state Budget as “trash and gas”, leaving the ruling party fuming. Congress leaders then countered it by highlighting the failures of the BRS administration.
The Congress plans to spotlight the discrepancy between proposed and allocated funds in previous state Budgets, particularly to key departments and schemes. This strategy aims to prepare Congress legislators for Budget discussions and also to challenge BRS MLAs alleging mismanagement of funds under the guise of welfare schemes.
Meanwhile, there is speculation in political circles on whether KCR will attend the Assembly during the discussion on the Budget and whether he will speak on the allegations of irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project, power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh, or the phone-tapping issue.
If the BRS supremo avoids the Assembly, the Congress plans to intensify its attacks, accusing him of acting under the saffron party’s influence amid rumours of a BRS-BJP merger.