Congress Lok Sabha member N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Wednesday was highly disappointing for Telangana. Further, he described it as an ‘anti-poor and pro-corporate’ budget.
Speaking to mediapersons at New Delhi after presentation of the Union Budget, Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said no specific announcements have been made for Telangana in the budget speech. “The Finance Minister did not even mention anything about the fulfilment of promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. The BJP government did not honour a single promise made through legislation passed by the Parliament in 2013,” he said.
“In the 58-page budget speech, the Finance Minister mentioned Telangana only once by promising to support the Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad as the Centre of Excellence. But no funds have been promised. We’ve seen several such fake promises by Modi’s government in the past,” he said.
Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the BRS government headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was equally responsible for the utter neglect of Telangana in the Union Budget. “KCR has failed to build pressure on the BJP to get adequate funds for Telangana. In the initial years, KCR acted as a devoted ‘Modi bhakt’ and now he is enacting the dramas of rivalry with the BJP. Earlier he supported and strengthened Modi and now he is focused on building his image as a ‘national leader’. He never cared for Telangana and did nothing to get the new State its due share in the Union Budget,” he said.
The Congress MP also slammed the BJP leaders of Telangana for not making any efforts to get funds or big projects for the State. “Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay and other two MPs miserably failed in convincing their party’s government to allocate sufficient funds for the State. They only enjoy playing blame games through media in the State, but show no courage to fight for the interest of Telangana in Delhi,” said Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
