Expressing shock and dismay over at BJP president Amit Shah’s claim that the Centre had given ₹1 lakh crore to Telangana, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has demanded the former to tender apology for uttering “blatant lies” and offered to resign if he was proved wrong.
At a press conference here, Mr. Rao said he would not have reacted if Mr. Shah had targeted him personally, but he “heckled” the people of Telangana and reduced their self-esteem which was inexcusable. “I will slit my throat for Telangana. I will not tolerate if anybody undermines the State,” he said.
Reeling out figures showing that the Central funding since the formation of Telangana till date was only ₹67,390 crore, Mr. Rao said the amount accrued to the State naturally in a federal set-up and no special favours were shown. It included tax devolution of ₹37,773 crore as in the case of all States, ₹18,574 for Centrally-sponsored schemes and ₹2,055 crore spent by the Centre on national highways.
While the receipts in the three categories in 2016-17 alone were ₹24,561 crore, the outgo from the State for Central pool was ₹50,013 crore. It included income tax of ₹32,186 crore, service tax of ₹7,671 crore, customs duty of ₹3,328 crore and central excise of ₹6,828 crore. So the contribution of the Centre was not even 50% of what it earned from the State.
Mr. Rao said the most “atrocious claim” of Mr. Shah was that the Centre gave ₹20,000 crore additionally to the State every year. He challenged the BJP leader to prove if the Centre gave at least ₹200 crore.
Wondering why Mr. Shah had to lie, Mr. Rao said he was at a loss to understand the immediate provocation for the former because the BJP would not get any political mileage out of it. It was politically motivated to show the government in poor light and hamper development in the State. As the head of the government, he could not tolerate mischief.
Drawing a distinction between Mr. Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said he had a lot of respect for the latter and saw no threat to their relationship. There was not a single scandal in the three-year rule of Mr. Modi. He hoped wisdom prevailed on Mr. Shah and he would set himself right by tendering apology. He would, however, not complain to Mr. Modi.
