Hyderabad: Stating that the Union Budget has completely ignored Telangana, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday alleged that the NDA government at the Centre was not just discriminating against the state but exhibited "bias".
Reddy, who came down heavily on the NDA government, described the Union Budget as "kursi bachao budget (budget to save chair)" as it sought to please NDA partners TDP and JD(U). NDA means "Naidu-Nitish Dependent Alliance", he said, addressing a press conference to respond to the budget presented in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The CM also demanded that Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy, who is the state BJP president, quit his post over the "injustice" done to the state. Revanth Reddy said that after assuming power, he as CM had welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited the state and even referred to him as elder brother as his government intended to maintain cordial relations with the Centre.
The state government had submitted several requests for funds for development projects to the Centre, he said and added that the eight Congress Lok Sabha members from Telangana would protest over the "raw deal" given to the state in the budget. The Centre's "discrimination" of Telangana would be debated in the legislative assembly on Wednesday and a resolution would be passed on the issue, he said.
When Modi had "found fault with the process of Telangana formation" in the past, people of the state did not expect that he had such "bias" against the state, Revanth Reddy exclaimed.
"It appears that he (Modi) has been showing not discrimination but bias against Telangana from the beginning. We did not understand when it was said that Centre shows discrimination towards opposition-ruled states. But, now our government clearly feels that the Narendra Modi ji's government acted not with discrimination, but in a biased manner towards the Telangana people," he said.
Making it clear that he is not opposed to the Centre giving funds to other states, Revanth Reddy said he is seeking the state's legitimate rights to be acknowledged and funds allocated for them.
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