Not all to get Rythu Bandhu, Lok Sabha polls referendum to govt: Revanth Reddy

Revanth Reddy is apparently preparing minds of farmers that not all of the will be getting the ‘Rythu Bharosa’ (for now, Rythu Bandhu) assistance.

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Update:2024-03-05 21:14 IST
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HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is apparently preparing minds of farmers that not all of the will be getting the ‘Rythu Bharosa’ (for now, Rythu Bandhu) assistance. The first rider that came forth from the Chief Minister on Tuesday was that tax payers would not get Rythu Bandhu.

The issue would be discussed in the Assembly and a decision will be taken.

This meant that the government was already engaged in reducing the burden on the exchequer.

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The BRS Government used to spend Rs.15,000 crore on an average every year towards Rythu Bandhu in two instalments.

Rythu Bharosa is one of the six guarantees announced by the Congress before the Telangana Assembly elections.

The Congress announced Rs.15,000 per acre per asset-owning farmer, Rs 15,000 per acre per tenant farmer and Rs.12,000 to farm labourers.

Before coming up with the fine print with all the applicable conditions and riders, the Chief Minister on Tuesday began to spill the beans.

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As it is, Rythu Bandhu scheme was prevented by the Congress on the eve of the elections even though the Election Commission of India had initially permitted extending the same.

The KCR Government was prepared to give the assistance too, but for the blocking of the scheme by the ECI in response to the petition by present Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The farmers were left disappointed with the ECI’s decision.

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Then Finance Minister T Harish Rao had said that all cell phones of farmers will be getting the ‘ting…ting…” buzz on December 5. But the BRS did not return to power.

The Congress, which is struggling to keep the wolf at the door, is working overtime to adjust the finances for the implementation of the six guarantees which are going to cast a huge financial burden on the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister asserted that it would no longer be given to tax payers. Only those engaged in agriculture would get it.

None from my family to contest Lok Sabha polls

In a chitchat with reporters at the secretariat, Revanth Reddy said that the Congress party would consider the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a referendum to his governance and exuded confidence that the party would win 14 out of the 17 seats.

The Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress would meet on March 7 and the candidates list was likely to be announced either the same day or the next. He said that none from his family would contest the Lok Sabha polls and he would not encourage that.

Pens, mobile, Mobile phones, remote keys of cars seized

Interestingly, the security staff confiscated pens, mobile phones, and car remote keys at the entrance. The police suspected that the chitchat would be recorded by the journalists. The suspicion is so much that they seized the pens as they could have micro camera recorders and even the car keys might have such cameras.

However, when reporters questioned the same, the security men returned them after some, but surely not before checking them.

This is in total contravention of the claims of Praja Palana. Ironically, some time later, Revanth Reddy spoke at Pothuri Venkateswara Rao Memorial Award presentation at Telugu University and said media should oointniut the mistakes of the government so that it could address them.

This is a dichotomy between words and deeds.

99 per cent officials involved in Kaleshwaram corruption

The Chief Minister said 99 per cent of the officials concerned were involved in Kaleshwaram corruption. Therefore, there was a shortage of officials for conducting the prove. It’s for that reason the government had written to the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to probe into it. If they gave the report in four weeks or four days, action would be taken based on it. He derisively sought to know how could KCR, who did not come to the Assembly, be called the Leader of the Opposition. Referring to the observation by the BRS that his government would fall soon, he said if that had to happen, KCR should join hands with Nrendra Modi. He justified his reference to the Prime Minister as an ‘elder brother’ just like the USA was called the ‘big brother’ by other nations in the world and that the Prime Minister was the elder brother to the entire nation. He rejected the suggestion that he had a behind-the-scene understanding with Modi. “Modi is not my boss. Rahul Gandhi is my boss,” Revanth Reddy said. He passed remarks on suspended police officer Praneeth Rao. Revanth Reddy demanded that KTR should organise a daylong hunger strike at Ambedkar Statue in Sircilla as part of his agitation against the Layout Regularisation Scheme. He passed some more pungent and derisive remarks against KCR.
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