Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to a public KTR Revanth debate over Telangana’s financial condition, governance and the Congress government’s performance.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, KTR criticised the Chief Minister’s remarks describing Telangana as a bankrupt state. He said he was prepared to participate in a public debate anywhere in the state and asked Revanth Reddy to decide the venue, time and subject.
KTR said he would retire from politics if he failed to establish his allegations against the Congress government with facts and evidence during the proposed debate.
KTR Revanth debate centres on governance
The BRS leader alleged that if Telangana faced financial difficulties, the Congress government was responsible because of corruption and misgovernance. He also accused the Chief Minister of repeatedly damaging the state’s image through his public statements.
KTR claimed no other Chief Minister publicly described the state he represented in such negative terms. He also questioned Revanth Reddy’s frequent visits to New Delhi, asking why the Chief Minister had travelled there 72 times in 30 months despite alleging that Telangana did not receive adequate attention from the Centre.
He urged the Chief Minister to focus on governing Telangana instead of making repeated visits to the national capital.
KTR Revanth debate includes debt claims
Rejecting the claim that Telangana was bankrupt, KTR said the state had become one of India’s leading economies during the BRS government led by K. Chandrashekar Rao. He claimed agricultural production, irrigation and farmers’ incomes had increased significantly during that period.
KTR also disputed the Chief Minister’s statements on the state’s debt. Referring to information provided by the Union Government in Parliament, he claimed Telangana’s outstanding debt stood at around ₹2.7 lakh crore. He alleged that Revanth Reddy had presented varying debt figures to portray the state’s financial position inaccurately.
BRS MLAs Sabitha Indra Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, K.P. Vivekananda and other party leaders attended the press conference.