BJP neglected Telangana in Union Budget: Uttam

Speaking to media persons on the Parliament premises after the presentation of the Budget, Mr. Uttam accused the BJP government of misusing the public exchequer for political gains. He said more allocations were made for election-bound states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu while other states were neglected. He alleged that the BJP has failed to ensure equitable distribution of resources among all states. "This is a wrong practice and if it continues, then all states will get new projects and funds only during election years," he added.

"All four BJP MPs from Telangana, including state BJP president Bandi Sanjay, should be ashamed of themselves for having failed to get a single rupee for Telangana in the Union Budget. They should now stop making tall claims and fake promises with regard to Telangana," the Congress MP said.

Further, he said that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao must explain what he achieved by supporting the BJP government at the Centre since 2014. "KCR has supported all the policies and decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the beginning. In fact, he was more supportive of PM Modi's decisions than the Chief Ministers of BJP-governed states. However, Telangana did not gain anything in any of the Budgets presented by the BJP government," he said, adding that the TRS government has failed to put pressure on the Centre even to get the GST dues.

Mr. Uttam said that Telangana got nothing in the Union Budget 2021-22. "There is no mention of allocations for Telangana that were listed under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Not a single irrigation project in Telangana has been accorded national status and no allocations have been made for any other project. There is no mention of funds for the railway coach factory at Kazipet or steel plant at Bayyaram. This Budget has nothing to cheer the people of Telangana," he said. Further, he said no funds have been allocated for the expansion of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project or the MMTS phase II and III.

The TPCC chief said that there was nothing for the common people, especially the middle class, in the Union Budget. In fact, he said the imposition of cess of Rs. 2.5 per litre on petrol and Rs. 4 on diesel would burden the common man as increase in fuel prices would lead to inflation and a rise in prices of essential commodities. He said it was unbelievable that the finance minister was trying to justify the agriculture cess by saying it would not impact the consumers as other duties have been reduced. He pointed out that petrol and diesel prices were highest in Telangana, especially Hyderabad.

He alleged that the BJP government wants to go slow on COVID-19 vaccination. "Only Rs. 35,000 crores have been allocated for COVID-19 vaccine while the Serum Institute of India (SII) head Adaar Poonawalla has advised the Centre to set aside Rs. 80,000 crores for the vaccination. The present allocation is not even half of the estimated amount required for vaccination. Further, no financial relief has been announced for the families of over 1,54,000 people who lost their lives due to the virus in the last one year," he said.

He also said that the Budget had neglected the unemployed youth of the country. As per rough estimates, over 12 crore people lost their jobs due to the lockdown. No package has been announced for those jobless people, he said.

Mr. Uttam alleged that the BJP government was trying to sell off public assets to private parties. He condemned the proposal for disinvestment in IDBI and two other banks. He said, "It has been proved that the BJP is incapable of managing the country's finances and it wants to survive either by selling off public assets or by borrowing loans. This year, the BJP government is proposing to borrow Rs. 12 lakh crore. The Modi government is pushing India into a huge debt trap."

The TPCC chief alleged that against the expectation of the middle-class people for some tax relief, the BJP exempted people aged above 75 years from filing IT returns. He called the decision ridiculous as the average retirement age is 65 years.

"The Budget speech is a serious document that presents the Central government's revenue and expenditure plans for the next year. But today's Budget speech was full of fake claims of achievements with no clarity on future plans," he said.