Hyderabad: BRS working president and MLA K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday accused the Centre of discriminating against Telangana since 2014. Citing Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s vision, he asserted, “India is a union of states. Without states, there is no Centre — that’s why N.T. Rama Rao said the Centre is secondary.”The BRS leader condemned the Centre’s approach to conditional funding, arguing that making financial aid contingent on state governments’ compliance violates the spirit of the Constitution. He also questioned the silence of the Congress-led Telangana government, stating, “Even with eight Congress MPs and eight BJP MPs, Telangana got nothing in the Union Budget. The word ‘Telangana’ wasn’t even mentioned—it was a Budget for Delhi and Bihar elections.”Emphasising the need to push back, Rama Rao declared, “If we don’t fight, the Centre won’t listen to us. We will come together.” He recalled Telangana’s past cordiality with the Centre, including inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate Mission Bhagiratha, but lamented, “Telangana gained nothing in return.”Rama Rao accused the Centre of replicating Telangana’s flagship schemes like Rythu Bandhu for PM Kisan, Mission Kakatiya for Amrut Sarovar, Mission Bhagiratha for Har Ghar Jal and TS-iPASS for single window clearance, while failing to provide any benefits to the state. “They follow our model, take our tax revenues, but give us nothing in return,” he alleged.
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