Congress asks KCR to focus on governance

Hyderabad: The Congress party has advised Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to focus on governance which he has not touched ever since winning the Assembly elections in December 2018.

"In the last 6 months, KCR has held only cabinet meetings. The first one was held with just one minister (Home Minister Mahmood Ali) on January 8 and another on February 21 to finalise Vote-on-Account budget. Despite formation of government 169 days ago, there are six vacancies in the Council of Ministers. This style of functioning only signifies dictatorial form of governance and not the democratic one," Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy said in a media statement on Saturday.

Gudur Narayana Reddy pointed out that none of the electoral promises KCR made in TRS manifesto for Assembly elections of 2018 have been fulfilled. "Taking refuge behind the Model Code of Conduct, KCR enjoyed 'Holiday from Governance' for nearly six months. However, the Chief Minister, under the garb of 'religious pilgrimage', undertook political tours to Odisha, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu to pursue the idea of Federal Front. All this was done using money from public exchequer," he said.

The Congress leader said that the unrest among employees was on the rise due to non-implementation of Pay Revision Commission (PRC) and clearance of other dues. He said that the promises of enhancing Rythu Bandhu amount from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000 per acre remained on paper. There is no clarity on when the promised unemployment allowance of Rs. 3,016 will be paid to the jobless youth. An order has been issued on May 28 for enhancing the pension amount to Rs. 2,016. But this is being done with effect from June 2019 although this should be from retrospective effect from January 2019, he said.

Gudur Narayana Reddy said that a serious financial crisis was starting at Telangana due to continuous fall in revenues, rising expenditure and increasing burden of debts and their interest. As per the latest report of Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG), the expenditure on interest payments in the financial year 2018-19 was a whopping Rs. 11,892 crore which is almost double the expenditure on subsidy (Rs. 6,165 Cr) and over half of Capital Expenditure (Rs. 22,569 Cr). In other words, Telangana is spending almost 12.75% of Rs. 93,241 Crore of its revenue receipts which includes Tax Revenues of Rs. 83,233 Cr and Rs. 10,007 of Non-Tax Revenues. "This is a non-productive expenditure and should be controlled on priority basis. KCR should take a break from politics, at least for a brief period, to perform his duties as the Chief Minister of Telangana," he demanded.

The Congress leader said that the Model Code of Conduct in Telangana State would come to an end in the second week of June after the completion of MPP and ZPP polls process. "The Chief Minister should immediately convene an Assembly session to discuss the current issues and find an immediate solution. He should also expand his cabinet to bring the total number of ministers to 18 which is a Constitutional necessity. The State Government should also begin the process to finalise full-fledged budget to replace Vote on Account which was prepared only for April to September 2019," he demanded.

"KCR's friendship with Jagan will not last long"

Gudur Narayana Reddy predicted that the friendship between Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will not last long.

"KCR is habitual of changing friends and loyalties for political gains. People had seen pictures of KCR meeting and exchanging warm greetings with the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu when he came to power in 2014. He did not miss an occasion to meet Naidu and pose for pictures. He continued it for a brief period and then dismantled the friendship for political gains. In a similar fashion, he will dump the friendship with Jagan Mohan Reddy in near future," Gudur Narayana Reddy said.

However, Narayana Reddy hoped that both the Telugu States would cooperate with each other and solve their disputes amicably.