Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 4 (ANI): Former Minister and BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao on Saturday strongly refuted the allegations made by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka regarding the borrowings of the previous BRS government.
According to a press release, addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao accused the Congress government of deliberately spreading falsehoods and presenting misleading figures to divert public attention from its failure to implement election promises and from the alleged scams that have surfaced during its tenure.
Harish Rao said that despite repeated clarifications with documentary evidence, the Congress government continues to mislead the public with contradictory statements on the state’s debt.
He asserted that the BRS has consistently maintained the same stand in the Assembly, public meetings, and press conferences.
He said the Congress government had failed to fulfil the guarantees and promises made before the elections and was now using the debt issue as a political diversion.
Referring to earlier remarks made by Bhatti Vikramarka that Congress had vast experience in mobilising resources, Harish Rao questioned why that experience had not translated into fulfilling the party’s electoral commitments.
Presenting what he described as documentary evidence, Harish Rao said the Congress government’s own records prove that the total borrowings of the BRS government amounted to only Rs 4.17 lakh crore, including FRBM loans and government-guaranteed borrowings.
He explained that the figures being quoted by Congress were inflated by including loans that predated the formation of Telangana as well as borrowings made after the Congress assumed office in December 2023.
He further stated that official documents, including the CAG Report, the State Budget documents, the White Paper released by the Congress government, and RBI data, support the BRS position.
According to the party release, Rao said the CAG has placed the BRS government’s borrowings at around Rs 4.10 lakh crore, while the Congress government’s own White Paper indicates borrowings of approximately Rs 4.17 lakh crore.
Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government itself has repeatedly changed its figures on state debt. While one minister claimed the previous government borrowed over Rs 8 lakh crore, another later claimed Rs 7 lakh crore, and different figures were presented in the Assembly, White Paper and press conferences.
He termed these contradictions proof that the government has no consistent position.
He also questioned the Congress government’s own borrowings, alleging that it had accumulated nearly Rs 4.5 lakh crore in just 31 months, according to publicly available data.
He questioned the discrepancies between figures quoted by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka regarding loans raised after the Congress assumed office.
As per the release, Rao further alleged that the Congress government was paying huge brokerage commissions to raise loans through corporations by mortgaging government lands.
He termed this an unprecedented practice and accused the government of allowing middlemen to profit from public borrowings instead of adopting transparent financial practices.
Referring to Singareni, Rao criticised the government’s decision to order only an internal vigilance inquiry into the alleged disappearance of coal stocks.
He argued that an internal investigation would lack credibility and demanded independent investigations into the alleged irregularities in Singareni, including the solar power projects, explosives procurement, diesel purchases and the Jaipur power plant.
Reiterating his stand, Harish Rao said the BRS government had utilised its borrowings to build major infrastructure projects, including Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, Mission Bhagiratha, Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Sitarama Project, Devadula Project, Sammakka Sagar, district medical colleges, nursing colleges, integrated district collectorates, the Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat and the Command Control Centre, while also implementing major welfare programmes such as Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, farm loan waiver, free power for agriculture and other development initiatives.
He asserted that the BRS government had also significantly increased Telangana’s GSDP and per capita income during its tenure.
Rao reiterated that he stands by the figure of Rs 4.17 lakh crore as the total borrowings of the BRS government and challenged the Congress government to hold an open debate on the issue, including in the State Assembly. (ANI)
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