Harish Rao: Telangana seeing negative growth across sectors; Congress going back on poll promises

Hyderabad: BRS Siddipet MLA and former finance minister T Harish Rao claimed that Telangana was experiencing negative growth rates across sectors, while the neighbouring States were experiencing positive growth.

He contradicted chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s assertions that Telangana’s growth was being hampered by economic slowdown across the nation.

“This (slowdown) was not due to an economic slowdown, but rather due to the Congress government’s failure,” Harish Rao said, adding that the people of Telangana made a mistake in electing Revanth Reddy as the CM and that blunder was turning out to be a nightmare for them.

‘Congress took U-turn on making Layout Regularisation Scheme free’

Speaking during a general discussion on the Budget in the Assembly on Friday, Harish Rao said, “Whoever said the quotation ‘first, they promise reforms, then they reformed their promises’ meant it for Congress. They made promises in the name of change before the elections. After the elections, they changed those promises.”

The former minister alleged the Congress government said they would make the Layout Regularisation Scheme (LRS) free, but now they are charging exorbitant amounts from the public. He also said that in the past, Rs 31,000 crore were raised for loan waiver, but the Congress has admitted that only Rs 20,000 crore loans were waived. However, they boasted that last year’s budget was Rs 2.91 lakh crore, he said.

‘Unrealistic estimates’

“I said that day that these were unrealistic estimates. They have understated the revised estimates by Rs 27,000 crore. CM Revanth Reddy himself said that it will be understated by Rs 60,000-70,000 crore, which means the estimate is unrealistic. To date, not a single rupee has been released this financial year regarding interest-free loans,” Harish Rao alleged.

The former minister also pointed out that the limit of interest-free loans has not been increased beyond Rs 5 lakh that BRS gave in the previous government. The amount was told by the Congress government in the Assembly, he said. “The Congress party said that interest-free loans are available up to Rs 5 lakh. And they are promoting that the entire loan taken is interest-free,” he said.

Auction of 400 acres in Gachibowli

“I am asking Bhatti Vikramarka directly. If there is an order that VLR is applicable to the entire loan taken by women’s organisations, please show it or I demand an unconditional apology for misleading this House and deceiving women. Before the elections, the Congress leaders said they would increase revenue and fulfil their promises. The failure of the Congress has affected the State’s revenue,” Harish Rao said.

“Bhatti Vikramarka should tell us what to do when the State’s revenue is declining. The government has decided to raise Rs 30,000 crore by auctioning 400 acres in Gachibowli. The TGIIC has pledged lands to raise a loan of Rs 10,000 crore. The HMDA said it will pledge lands to raise a loan of Rs 20,000 crore,” the former minister said.

‘Telangana’s GST income at the lowest’

In the last 11 months, Telangana’s GST receipts have grown by just 5.5 per cent, according to the CAG report, Harish Rao noted. At the same period, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded growth rates of 10.72 and 12 per cent, respectively, while the national average was almost 10 per cent. He said that the nationwide date was in contrast to the State government’s projections of a 20 per cent growth rate. “The GST growth rate in Telangana was never below the national average during the BRS tenure,” he remarked.

Likewise, during the Congress rule, the revenue from stamps and registration had also suffered a significant reduction, he said.

‘Stamp and registration revenue has declined’

Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had projected that stamp and registration revenue would reach Rs 18,244 crore in the previous budget, but only Rs 12,867 crore was made in the last 11 months, according to the former minister. Surprisingly, neighbouring Tamil Nadu received 90 per cent of the predicted revenue, Karnataka 85 per cent, and Maharashtra 93 per cent. Telangana had only registered 77 per cent and the Congress administration should reflect on this, he remarked.

‘Telangana saw negative automotive sales’

In terms of automotive sales, he said that Andhra Pradesh saw a 12 per cent increase, Tamil Nadu saw a 32 per cent increase, Karnataka saw an 8 per cent increase and Telangana saw a -0.08 per cent growth rate.

“The term Telangana Rising was coined by chief minister A Revanth Reddy. But where is Telangana is growing?” Harish Rao asked. The former minister listed the reasons behind Telangana’s poor growth, pointing out that shortly after taking office, the chief minister declared the State insolvent.

‘Harish Rao’s rhetoric criticised’

Harish Rao said, “The Congress government is using ‘ardhika mandyam’ (economic slowdown) to hide their failures, but it is ‘buddhi mandyam’ (lack of intellect) that is causing Telangana’s negative growth.”

Speaker G Prasad Kumar objected, urging the senior BRS MLA to stop using such language. Additionally, Bhatti Vikramarka criticised the former minister’s rhetoric when he criticised the Treasury benches.

Harish Rao retorted that no one objected to the chief minister’s use of language when he threatened in the same Assembly that anybody who posted anti-CM content on social media ‘would be stripped and paraded nude on the streets.’ People from all walks of life were angry with the Congress government, according to Harish Rao.