HYDERABAD: The monsoon session of Parliament, set to begin from Monday, will see Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) members in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha taking on the BJP-led government and focus on ‘the vindictive approach’ of the Centre towards Telangana, and the ‘deliberate attempts’ by the Narendra Modi-led Central government to undermine development in the state.
TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday directed his party MPs to focus on how over the past eight years, the BJP government had been neglecting assurances given to Telangana in the AP Reorganisation Act, and in doing so, coordinate their attacks with other like-minded parties.
Chandrashekar Rao told the party MPs at a meeting at Pragati Bhavan that the anti-people policies of the Central government was hurting the entire nation, and as responsible representatives of Telangana, the TRS MPs must use Parliament which was the right platform to highlight the failures of the BJP government.
Modi never encouraged Telangana following strict fiscal discipline while
making strides on the economic front, and instead, was doing everything he could to block development of the state, he said. Only eight states were contributing most to the GDP of the country, and Telangana was one of these, Chandrashekar Rao told the TRS MPs, adding that they should question the funds given to the state by the Centre, and this would make it clear to the people the discrimination towards Telangana by the BJP government.
He said 22 states were deep in debts and had more loans on their hands than Telangana, which was staying within the limits, and in the past eight years, never defaulted on its loan repayments. “Modi is jealous of Telangana’s progress and is attempting to subdue the state’s progress using various pretexts,” Chandrashekar Rao said.
He also said the BJP owed an explanation on how sensitive information on issues between states and the Centre were reaching the BJP’s social media accounts, including decisions taken by the Centre deliberately targeting Telangana. Calling this a deliberate attempt to besmirch the state, Chandrashekar Rao said this activity was being pursued in a planned manner which showed the lows of politics to which the BJP could stoop to.
He also questioned how the Centre which first announced Rs 53,000 crore as the FRBM limit for Telangana to borrow, reduced it to Rs 23,000 crore. Was it not a conspiracy, he asked, adding that the TRS MPs should raise all these issues in Parliament and hold the BJP government accountable for its omissions.
He also said the MPs must raise issues related to reforms in the electricity sector, and question why the BJP government was repeatedly targeting Telangana despite the Niti Ayog several times praising the state for its programmes and policies.
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