Telangana Assembly passes resolution over ‘injustice’ done in Union Budget
The Telangana Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution appealing to the Centre to render justice to Telangana by amending the proposals for the Union Budget 2024 in the ongoing session of the Parliament.
The Telangana Assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution appealing to the Centre to render justice to Telangana by amending the proposals for the Union Budget 2024 in the ongoing session of the Parliament.
The resolution was moved by chief minister A Revanth Reddy on behalf of the state government and it was supported by Opposition members Bharat Rashtra Samithi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.
The resolution said it is the responsibility of the Central government to ensure an integrated and holistic development of all the states in the country. “The central government forsaken the federal spirit, as Telangana was meted out injustice in the union budget. The centre adopted indifference towards Telangana from the day of the formation of the state,” it said.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a walk out from the assembly before the resolution was adopted after an intense debate over the injustice meted out to Telangana in the Union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Revanth Reddy announced that as a mark of protest against the injustice meted out to Telangana in the Union budget, the state government would boycott NITI Aayog meting to be held by the Centre on July 27.
The resolution further said as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the Centre owed the responsibility of taking all necessary steps for the sustainable development of the two Telugu states. But the Centre has failed to fulfil the promises made in the Act, which had a negative impact on the development of Telangana, it said.
The chief minister reminded that he and delegations of his cabinet colleagues had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers several times and made appeals to them to fulfil the promises made in the AP Reorganisation Act.
“We requested the Union government to grant financial assistance for the projects, release funds as per the Act and resolve the long pending inter-state issues. The central government completely neglected the state government’s pleas and discriminated against Telangana in the budget allocations,” Revanth Reddy said in the resolution.
“The state assembly registers a strong protest and expressed unhappiness over the centre’s neglect for Telangana,” the resolution added.
The debate witnessed a war of words between the ruling Congress and the BRS members. BRS working president and Siricilla MLA KT Rama Rao demanded that Revanth Reddy lead a delegation of Congress MLAs and stage a dharna in New Delhi to bring pressure on the Centre to do justice to Telangana, rather than adopting resolutions in the Assembly.
In response, the chief minister said that he was ready to stage a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, provided Leader of Opposition and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) also joined him. “Let us decide whether Telangana gets central funds or not by launching a stir,” he said.
The chief minister reminded that the BRS had supported the Narendra Modi government several times in the past, in the form of boycotting the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, supporting the PM’s demonetisation policy and the RTI amendment act and voting in favour of Triple Talaq bill.
“I appeal to the BRS leaders to change their mindset and come forward to help the state to develop,” he added.
