Kishan Reddy Should Exit Union Cabinet To Protest Budget: CM

Terming the Union Budget as a "kursi bachao budget" driven by political compulsions and claiming that it discriminated against Telangana in the allocation of funds, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy today demanded that union minister G Kishan Reddy, the Secunderabad MP hailing from Telangana, come out of the Cabinet in protest against the injustice done to Telangana.

Responding to the union budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Minister told the media at his residence that the people had elected eight BJP MPs from Telangana, but that the Union government had deceived the people by not giving funds to the State.

"BJP MPs should question the injustice done to Telangana, and union minister Kishan Reddy should come out from the Cabinet immediately in protest against the discrimination against the State," Reddy said.

"Telangana's ministers have gone to New Delhi 18 times. I myself appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give the necessary funds to Telangana. But the Centre has once again deceived the State, and Nirmala Sitharaman did not even utter the word Telangana in her budget speech. Modi thinks that Telangana is not a part of Vikasit India. Only Bihar and AP were considered in the budget, and all other States ignored," Reddy lamented.

"Modi is in the Prime Minister's chair because of eight MP seats from Telangana. We still get nothing in the budget. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written a letter saying that Telangana cannot be given even an IIM. Then why is Kishan Reddy continuing as a union minister? He is deceiving the people by mortgaging the rights of Telangana to Narendra Modi for the post of a cabinet minister," he said.

"The Centre has sanctioned funds to Andhra Pradesh as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. Why then is Telangana not being given allocations under the same act? No funds for even the Musi riverfront development project or the Regional Ring Road. And the union budget did even not mention ITIR," Reddy said.

"Sab Ka Saath Sab Ka Vikas is just a bogus slogan. The Prime Minister is not even considering Telangana a part of Vikasit Bharat. It is not a Viksit Bharat budget, but only a Chair Bachao Budget. Except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, no funds have been allocated for the development of any States," Reddy added.

Alleging that the Prime Minister had given priority to some States as a quid pro quo to save his chair, the Chief Minister said that the Congress would stage a protest in Parliament for Telangana's rights, especially emphasising that the AP Reorganization Act applied not just to Andhra Pradesh, but also to Telangana.

He added that the State Assembly would debate the injustice meted to Telangana in the union budget on Wednesday, and would expose the shady deals entered by some political parties who were conspiring to reunite two Telugu States.

Reddy also requested opposition leader and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao to participate in the discussion. "Otherwise it will give an impression that KCR and Modi have colluded," he said.