Alleging discrimination by the Centre towards Southern states in the Union Budget, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday mooted a meeting of the Chief Ministers for a joint strategy.
He told media persons that he already reached out to his counterparts in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and it would be good if the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Puducherry also joined hands with them.
Accusing the BJP of treating people of south India only as voting machines, Revanth Reddy cautioned the Centre that if this discrimination continued, it could lead to another agitation.
He said the BJP-led government not only showed discrimination towards Telangana but also displayed a grudge by not even mentioning Telangana in the budget.
The Chief Minister said Telangana ministers visited Delhi 18 times and he himself met the Prime Minister thrice to request Central funds for the development of Telangana He recalled that when the Prime Minister had visited the state, he had urged him to act like an elder brother on the issue of development.
“But in the entire budget speech there is no mention of the word Telangana,” he said, adding that Telangana never faced such discrimination.
“People of Telangana never imagined that they have so much grudge in their hearts,” he remarked.
He mentioned that the Centre has not extended support for any sector. It did not even give one rupee for the Regional Ring Road or Musi Riverfront Development project.
Referring to the funds allocated for Andhra Pradesh in the budget, Revanth Reddy asked the Centre why Telangana was deprived when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act also applied to it too.
The Chief Minister alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not consider Telangana a part of Viksi Bharat.
“Sabka saath sabka vikas is a bogus slogan. This is not the Viksit Bharat budget. This is the ‘kursi bachao’ budget,” he said, adding that barring Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, no other state was given funds. Revanth Reddy asked if the BJP needs only votes and seats from Telangana.
He demanded that Union Minister for Coal G. Kishan Reddy own responsibility for the injustice meted out to Telangana in the budget and resign. “When the Centre has clearly said that it will not give IIM to Telangana, why should Kishan Reddy continue in the Cabinet,” he asked. He alleged that Kishan Reddy’s silence and ‘slave mentality’ resulted in injustice to Telangana as Kishan Reddy mortgaged Telangana’s self-respect with Prime Minister Modi.
He declared that Congress would protest in the Parliament for the rights of Telangana and demanded that the Centre amend the budget to provide funds for the Bayyaram steel plant, Kazipet coach factory, Palamuru project, expansion of Hyderabad Metro and Musi Riverfront development. He cautioned the BJP that if it failed to do so, it would have to pay the price in Telangana.
Revanth Reddy demanded that BJP MPs should join the protest in the Parliament against discrimination towards Telangana. He also announced that there will be a discussion in the Assembly on the injustice to Telangana in the Union Budget.
“We will expose who is in the process of merger and who has entered into a secret deal,” he said while targeting Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over reports that it was in talks with the BJP for a merger. He demanded that BRS President K. Chandrasekhar Rao participate in the debate. Otherwise, he will be seen hand in glove with PM Narendra Modi, he added.