CM visited Delhi over 30 times, but got nothing for TG in Budget: Harish

Former Finance Minister T Harish Rao has strongly criticised the Union Budget 2025-26, calling it politically motivated and biased towards election-bound states while neglecting overall national development. He questioned whether the BJP-led Central government’s vision of “Viksit Bharat” could be achieved with such an approach and urged the Centre to introspect its discriminatory budgetary allocations.
Harish Rao pointed out that states with upcoming elections had received substantial allocations, while non-election states like Telangana were ignored. “Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says ‘the nation is its people,’ but this budget makes it seem like only a few states matter to the Centre,” he remarked.
Lashing out at the repeated pattern of election-driven budgets, he said, “In 2024, the budget was tailored for Andhra Pradesh. Now, it’s for Delhi and Bihar. Will the 2026 budget be for Uttar Pradesh and the 2027 budget for Gujarat? When will there be a budget for the entire nation?” He accused the BJP government of systematically neglecting Telangana, questioning why the state, which contributes 5.1% to the national GDP, was once again left out.
He highlighted that despite Telangana having two Union Ministers and eight MPs from the BJP, along with eight Congress MPs, none of them secured any special allocations for the state. “This budget is not for India, it is for three or four states,” he said, adding that the BJP had used the budget to reaffirm that Telangana was not a priority.
Harish Rao also criticised the Centre for failing to allocate funds for the Tribal University promised under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act. He accused the Congress government in Telangana of being ineffective in securing central funds, noting that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy wrote a letter requesting Rs 40,000 crore just 10 days before the budget, but did little else to fight for the state’s interests. “CM Revanth Reddy has visited Delhi over 30 times in a year—what has he achieved for Telangana?” he asked, demanding answers from the Congress leadership.
He further pointed out that while Bihar received major incentives, including a Makhana Board, Western Kosi Canal project, IIT Patna expansion, a Greenfield airport, and food processing units, Telangana was completely ignored despite electing Congress and BJP MPs. “Bihar’s JD(U), which supports the BJP at the Centre, secured Rs 26,000 crore for various projects last year.
Now, ahead of elections, even more funds have been allocated to Bihar,” he said, questioning why Telangana’s BJP and Congress MPs failed to secure even Rs 8 for the state.
Harish Rao accused both national parties of betraying Telangana’s interests, stating that BRS remains the only party committed to fighting for the state’s rights. “While BJP and Congress MPs remain silent to please the Centre, Telangana’s rightful allocations a are being compromised,” he said, warning that the people of Telangana are watching the continued neglect by both parties.