Sorry State of State Finances: White paper to fix BRS ‘misdeeds’

Hyderabad: The Assembly which would meet on Wednesday promises to be a stormy one as the Congress government proposes to release the white paper on state finances through a power point presentation on the floor of the Assembly.

In fact, the government is keeping two options open. One to give a power point presentation and the other to release the detailed white paper on the finances which would be followed by a debate.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, who also holds the Finance portfolio, held meetings with the officials concerned to compile sector-wise data on the expenditure incurred by the previous BRS government and its impact on the year-wise growth.

The officials said the details of the loans taken for the construction of major projects like Kaleshwaram, Mission Bhagiratha and Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Scheme, etc, would also be included in the presentation. The government has plans to prove that there was no proper accountability in spending by the previous government.

Meanwhile, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is recuperating at his house after a surgery, also held a meeting with former Finance minister Harish Rao and asked him to counter the government’s ‘politically-motivated charges’. The BRS has also written to the Speaker to give them equal opportunity to present their counter-argument through their power point presentation.

The power point presentation was used as a tool to highlight government’s achievements particularly regarding irrigation and to counter the charges of irregularities of the then Opposition by the BRS. At that time, the Opposition too had sought permission for a power point presentation to explain their point, but it was not permitted.

The BRS, which is now in the Opposition, is getting ready with statistical data on the financial situation, the loans it had raised, the assets it had created and how the value of assets was much high compared to the loan liability.

They will also try to explain how prudent they were in financial management.

The efforts would be to turn the tables on the Congress government saying that it would be the electoral promises of the new government that would push the state into financial problems not the performance of the previous BRS government.

Harish Rao would lay emphasis on how the state policies helped in making Telangana become the highest per capital income state and also highest per capita power consuming state in the country.