Kishan Reddy Criticises Telangana Government at Formation Day Celebrations
Hyderabad: Union minister G. Kishan Reddy slammed the BRS government at the Central government’s State Formation Day celebrations here on Friday but declared that his criticism of the BRS government should not be viewed as a political speech but as a reflection of angst, anger, and deep sense of disappointment among the people over how Telangana was governed over the past nine years.
Reddy, chief guest at the celebrations at Golconda fort, spoke at length on issues facing the state such as the debt-trap it is in, the woes of Telangana farmers and the problems faced by every section of the society.
“Had I not spoken about these issues, on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people would not have forgiven me,” he said.
Making it clear that the Centre does not see eye to eye with the state government on several matters, Kishan Reddy taking aim at Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and members of the Chief Minister’s family, said, “Today, Telangana has become a slave of one family. Corruption is rampant. People need to consider the sacrifices made by the martyrs for statehood. Is Telangana going the way it was hoped to?” he asked. He then answered the question saying “today Telangana is a betrayed state.”
Promising good governance in the state under a BJP rule, he said, “Family rule has led to a lot of cheating. And the state is full of mafias. There are land mafias, dharani mafia, liquor mafia, sand mafia, job mafia, TSPSC paper leak mafia, Dalit Bandhu mafia, sheep mafia, 2BHK mafia and so on. On top of this, the state is deep in debt. All put, be it loans taken by the government, or various state corporations and entities, Telangana has around rupees eight lakh crore in loan burden. The income will be barely sufficient to service the debt.”
Listing how much money the government had borrowed from banks, Reddy said “I can go on and on with this list of loans but I will leave it for another time, another occasion. Today, this government has taken loans from anyone who will give it one. What has been done with this money? Was it used for welfare or development? It has been looted, thanks to corruption.”
Making a point on how Hyderabad was pretty much set on a development path before the state was formed and how any claims to credit for this by the BRS government do not hold any water, Reddy said be it getting Krishna and Godavari river waters to the city, or the PVNR flyover, or the start of the metro rail project, all of these happened earlier.
“Investments are coming to all states because of the Modi government’s policies. Foreign investments are coming to many states,” he further said.
The Union minister took pointed aim at the Chief Minister saying it baffles that a new Secretariat was built for a Chief Minister, who does not go to work.
“What purpose does the new Secretariat serve when elected leaders cannot enter? Common people cannot enter? Farmers are committing suicide in Telangana. Religion-based reservations are hurting tribal reservations. And those who betrayed the statehood movement have been rewarded,” he said.
