Union budget: KCR withdraws into shell as Centre ignores Telangana's demands

Hyderabad:Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and finance minister T Harish Rao have seemingly withdrawn into a shell after the Centre ignored Telangana in the union budget.

This is despite the fact that the TRS government had softened its stand towards BJP-led NDA government at the Centre after recent GHMC polls. There were no reactions on union budget either from state government, ministers, finance department, or ruling party leaders.

In their pre-budget meetings convened by the Centre, Harish Rao had demanded that the Centre should scrap cess and surcharges being collected by the Centre.Instead, the Centre introduced one more cess in the budget.

Minister for IT and Municipal Administration K. T Rama Rao had written several letters to various Ministries seeking funds from the Centre prior to the budget.

The union budget clearly reflected the 'political strategy' of BJP-led government at the Centre as four poll-bound states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu — received considerable allocations and attention.

However, the TRS government's 'political strategy' of maintaining cordial relations with the Centre especially after GHMC polls failed to appease BJP heads.

After GHMC polls, KCR took several decisions like going soft on Modi's controversial farm laws, Ayushman Bharat, EWS quota, etc in Telangana with an aim to maintain cordial relations with Centre before the budget.

BJP's political strategy on Telangana also came under question with the union budget. BJP is projecting itself as a strong alternative to TRS and unveiling plans to capture power in Telangana in the 2023 Assembly polls.

There were expectations that the BJP would give prominence to Telangana in the union budget to achieve its political goals. Any significant project or budget allocation made to Telangana in the Budget would have given an opportunity for Telangana BJP leaders to derive political mileage.

Looking at the union budget on Monday, even Telangana BJP leaders struggled to convince people about the budget.