BRS leader Harish Rao calls Budget ‘bogus, deceptive’
Former finance minister T Harish Rao on Friday criticised the state Budget 2026–27, calling it “bogus, empty and deceptive” and alleging that it fails to address public needs across Telangana.
Speaking at the Assembly, he said the Budget had “deeply disappointed” people, with no clear allocation for the six guarantees. He argued that increasing the size of the Budget without implementation held little value and described it as “numbers on paper” lacking commitment to resolve issues.
Harish Rao alleged that announcements for SCs, STs, BCs and minorities were aimed at securing votes, with little reflected in actual spending. He claimed several schemes from the previous Budget, including Rajiv Yuva Vikasam and Indiramma Atmiya Bharosa, remained unimplemented.
The former minister said the Budget offered “zero benefit” to sections such as pensioners, RTC and Singareni workers, women and welfare workers, and accused the government of pushing the state’s debt close to Rs 3.5 lakh crore without asset creation. In contrast, he said borrowings under the previous BRS regime funded projects such as Kaleshwaram and Mission Bhagiratha.
He sought a white paper on investments and questioned claims on industrial growth and jobs. The former minister also alleged that foreign tours were linked to “illegal financial interests”. He said allocations for the six guarantees had been reduced from Rs 56,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore.
Harish sees scam in integrated school tenders
During a chitchat with reporters earlier in the day, Harish Rao alleged irregularities in tenders for 76 Young India Integrated Schools, claiming political bias against BRS MLAs and a cartel among contractors.
The BRS leader said bids were consistently quoted just below the 5% cap, adding about Rs 494 crore to project costs.
He also questioned the allocation pattern favouring certain constituencies.