KTR slams loan waiver as ‘million-dollar joke’

Hyderabad: Asserting that the loan waiver by the government was a million-dollar joke, BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Friday challenged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to visit his constituency, Kodangal, and ask whether the waiver was fully implemented. He offered to quit politics if it was done.

Addressing a press conference, along with party leaders, Rao said it was the ‘biggest cheating in India’. He targeted Reddy, stating his behaviour and approach also appeared bogus. “It is the biggest fraud in the country against farmers. The loan waiver is full of conditions and restrictions. Not even half of eligible farmers got the loan waiver benefit. Let us go to Kodangal without any Congress cadre and with the media. Let us ask any one farmer about 100 per cent implementation; if one farmer says yes, I will quit politics,” he remarked.

KTR recalled that Reddy had promised a loan waiver on December 9, 2023, in a single go. When this was promised, it was said the government would require Rs 40,000 crore, but the government spent only Rs 17,000 crore. It appears CM means ‘cutting master’, who has done loan waivers for just 60 per cent of farmers,” he said, recalling that it cost Rs 17,000 crore for the first term loan waiver during the BRS regime. While the BRS government gave Rs 1 lakh crore for loan waiver and ‘Rythu Bandhu’, the government evaded paying Rs 11,400 crore under the ‘Rythu Bharosa’, he said. ‘A cheating case should be filed against Revanth. Even Rahul Gandhi understood and thought it was cheating; he didn’t come to attend the programme, Rao added.

Responding to the Women’s Commission’s notice, KTR said he had apologised for his comments and questioned whether Reddy would apologise to senior leader P Sabita Indra Reddy.

Replying to a question on following the DMK model, Rao said he would visit Tamil Nadu in September and would also study the TMC, BJP, TDP models and other parties.