Reiterating that farm loans up to ₹2 lakh will be waived off by August 15, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said financial assistance under the Rythu Bharosa scheme has already been disbursed to around 65 lakh farmers of the total 69 lakh farmers in the State.
The Rythu Bharosa funds will be disbursed to the remaining 4 lakh farmers before May 8, he said, throwing a challenge to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to come for an open debate at Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial in Hyderabad on May 9 on implementation of Rythu Bharosa scheme.
Addressing an election meeting in the coal town of Kothagudem in the poll-bound Khammam Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, Mr. Reddy accused Mr. Rao of resorting to false propaganda against the Congress government over implementation of Rythu Bharosa scheme.
Let him join the open debate on May 9 to prove his charges over the disbursement of financial assistance to farmers under Rythu Bharosa or tender a public apology, he said.
He alleged that the previous BRS government left the State in a heavy debt burden of ₹7 lakh crore. Thanks to the prudent financial management of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who holds Finance and Energy portfolios, the Congress government has been paying salaries to government employees and pensioners on the first of every month, Mr Reddy claimed.
An amount of ₹27,000 crore had been paid towards interest on borrowings, he pointed out blaming the previous BRS government for leaving the State with a heavy debt burden.
He criticised BRS MLA from Siddipet T. Harish Rao terming his “resignation challenge” as a “political gimmick”. He should be ready with his resignation letter, Mr. Reddy said asserting that the farm loans up to ₹2 lakh will be waived off by August 15.
Mr. Reddy mounted a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reiterating his charge that the BJP was “conspiring” to “change” the Constitution if voted to power at the Centre for the third term. BJP State leaders owe an answer to people over the reported statement made by the BJP general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam over the preamble of the Constitution, he said.
“The only way to foil the BJP’s attempts to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs is to defeat it in these Lok Sabha elections,” he said, adding “Vote for Congress party to safeguard the Constitution, reservations and democracy.”
Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Vikramarka, Ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Tummala Nageswara Rao, CPI State secretary and Kothagudem MLA K Sambasiva Rao, the Congress party candidate from Khammam constituency R. Raghuram Reddy and Mahabubabad constituency P. Balram Naik among others were present.
