Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MLC Mahesh Kumar Goud has criticised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for neglecting Telangana in the Union Budget 2025-26. He remarked that despite being a “Telugu bahu,” Sitharaman showed no concern for the state and allocated “zero” funds to Telangana.

Commenting on the budget presented in Parliament on Saturday, Goud alleged that the BJP-led central government had designed the budget solely with the Bihar Assembly elections in mind. He pointed out that Bihar received several special allocations, while Telangana was completely ignored.

He accused the BJP of politically discriminating against Telangana to weaken the state. Expressing outrage, he said that out of the Rs 50 lakh crore Union Budget, not even a single rupee was allocated to Telangana. He added that the Centre collected Rs 40,000 crore from Telangana as GST but failed to return any substantial funds.

Goud also criticised the Centre for not granting national project status to the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and for failing to fulfil the promises made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. He reminded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP leaders had made several commitments to Telangana during the elections but had now forgotten them.

He urged the Centre to ensure justice for Telangana by releasing the required funds for the state’s development.