Hyderabad, March 24 Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said on Tuesday that due to "reckless borrowing" between 2014 and 2023, the BRS government burdened the state with massive debt.
Responding to the debate on the budget in the Legislative Assembly, Vikramarka also said that during the previous BRS regime, budgets were inflated by about 22 per cent annually, which led to the failure of many schemes. In contrast, the Congress government presented a realistic budget with only a 6 per cent increase.
"Due to reckless borrowing between 2014 and 2023, the BRS government burdened the state with massive debt. The outcome of projects like the Kaleshwaram Project is now visible to everyone. In two years, we borrowed Rs 1,59,165 crore but repaid Rs 1,85,090 crore—clearing the debts accumulated by the previous government," Vikramarka said.
He further said that the government is aiming to balance revenue and expenditure in the next two years.
Attacking the BJP, he said that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was introduced by the UPA regime for the poor, and the NDA government at the Centre has altered its structure, limiting its share to 60 per cent and forcing states to contribute 40 per cent. This is what true "cheating is," he said. "They neither uphold Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals nor properly continue schemes named after him," he said.
He further criticized that the Telangana BJP leaders dismissed the vision of a $3 trillion economy as unrealistic when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself aims to achieve a $30 trillion economy by 2047.
He justified the state government's goal by saying that as part of the PM's vision, Telangana aims for a $3 trillion economy.
"Are BJP leaders saying the Prime Minister is wrong? We believe in cooperative federalism. Join us in dreaming big," Vikramarka said.
He said that from 1950 to 2014, 13 PMs, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, governed the country and accumulated a debt of Rs 56.66 lakh crore. However, in the past 12 years alone, the Centre has borrowed Rs 140 lakh crore, taking the total national debt to Rs 197 lakh crore.
For every rupee contributed to the Centre, Telangana receives only 30 paise. Andhra Pradesh gets 62 paise, Tamil Nadu 26 paise, Kerala 60 paise, whereas Bihar gets Rs 6.69, Uttar Pradesh Rs 1.96, and Madhya Pradesh Rs 1.87, Vikramarka claimed.