The Bharatiya Janata Party has challenged IT, Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao for a public debate on funds disbursed by the Centre to the State government on several fronts including social welfare schemes and infrastructure in the last three years.
“Our party is ready for a debate at any place about the unfounded lies uttered by the Minister against the Centre and prove the misuse of funds. Father and son took up grandiose schemes claiming Telangana to be a rich state but due to contracts and commissions, they have pushed the State to a debt trap. Now, they want to shift the blame to the Centre to mislead people,” charged party president K. Laxman.
Addressing a press conference at the party office on Thursday, he accused the TRS leaders of bowing to the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers in Delhi, getting funds and clearances but on return resorting to ‘unwarranted bad-mouthing’ of the Centre.
“Several projects have been held up due to financially bankrupt TRS government as it neither has money to provide matching grants or allocate land. All railway projects including MMTS phase two, extension to Yadadri, Kothapalli-Manoharabad line, Akkannapet-Medak and even coach repair workshop at Kazipet are held up so also many road over/under bridges,” he said.
Mr. Laxman castigated KTR calling him ‘twitter bird’ and said he had lowered his own status with his baseless accusations against the Centre. “Where is the need to mention bullet train project when the TRS government is not in a position to give even ₹100 crore for any railway project?,” he said.
The defence ministry is also ready to give land for construction of flyover to Karimnagar at Secunderabad Cantonment but the government is dithering on handing over alternative land besides linking it up with Bison Polo grounds for building a new secretariat quite unnecessarily, said the BJP leader.
The Centre was ready to fund two medical colleges but the government is not ready with matching grant, the same goes with rural roads development. Farmers too could have benefited more if the Centre’s schemes were implemented here.
The AIIMS, IIM, the new FCI unit as well as NTPC unit are all because of the Central initiatives to benefit TS, he claimed and also charged the government of not even spending the ‘Nirbhaya’ funds despite talk of ‘friendly policing.’
