The Congress government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has announced plans to introduce three key Bills during this session
Hyderabad: The Budget Session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council is set to commence on Wednesday, beginning with Governor Jishnu Dev Varma’s address to the joint session. This marks Varma’s maiden address to the Telangana Legislature since assuming office on July 31 last year.
The Congress government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has announced plans to introduce three key Bills during this session. The first Bill seeks to implement 42 per cent reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in education and employment. The second Bill aims to enforce the same 42 per cent quota for BCs in local bodies. The third Bill focuses on Scheduled Castes (SC) sub-categorisation, providing sub-quota for 59 SC sub-castes within the existing 15 per cent SC quota.
The Legislature is expected to adopt a resolution urging the Centre to approve enhanced reservations for BCs in proportion to their population, based on the state government's recent caste census findings.
The State Budget for 2025-26 is likely to be presented on March 19. It is expected to have an outlay of around Rs.3 lakh crore, reflecting a five per cent increase over the current year’s Rs.2.9 lakh crore budget.
The Assembly session is expected to be stormy, with the ruling Congress, Opposition BRS and the BJP preparing for intense debates.
BRS chief and Leader of Opposition K. Chandrashekar Rao has announced his intention to attend the session. However, it remains unclear how many days he will be present in the House and whether he will limit his attendance to just the inaugural session and Budget presentation.
During the previous Budget session in July 2024, Rao made only a brief appearance for the first time, stepping into the Assembly mid-way through the Budget speech by Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka before exiting shortly thereafter. Outside the House, he had criticised the Congress government, accusing it of presenting a weak budget. However, he subsequently remained silent.
During Rao's last Assembly appearance in July 2024 , Revanth Reddy took a jibe at the former chief minister, claiming that he attended the session out of fear that his son K.T. Rama Rao or nephew T. Harish Rao might replace him as the Leader of the Opposition.
On Monday, Rama Rao told the media that Chandrashekhar Rao is too senior a leader to be challenged by Revanth Reddy, whom he dismissed as lacking the stature to face the BRS chief.
Rama Rao further said, as the BRS working president and his son, he feels that Chandrashekhar Rao should not waste his time engaging with “small leaders” like Revanth Reddy in Assembly, whom he called a political “dwarf.”
In response, Revanth Reddy said that he as the TPCC chief had defeated Chandrashekhar Rao in the 2023 Assembly elections and was chosen as the Chief Minister by the people. He claimed this victory established his superiority over Chandrashekhar Rao. He also accused Chandrashekhar Rao of being the only member in the Assembly drawing salary and allowances as the Opposition leader without attending the Assembly proceedings.
The BJP is also preparing to go on the offensive against the Congress government. After securing two out of three MLC seats in the recent elections, the BJP is feeling emboldened.
Both the BRS and BJP are gearing up to target the Congress over the delay in implementing Six Guarantees and other poll promises made during 2023 Assembly polls. The Congress, in turn, plans to counter the BRS for the state’s financial woes, alleging that the previous government left behind enormous debts of over Rs.7 lakh crore.
The Chief Minister and his ministers have prepared reports on the Congress government fulfilling few guarantees and crop loan waiver despite fiscal constraints to counter the BRS. They want to highlight that the BRS government’s financial mismanagement forced them to spend more on debt repayments while simultaneously fulfilling promises made to the people.
