Harish challenges Congress with documentary evidence

Even as Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka has stated that Telangana's debt burden under the BRS regime stood at Rs 8.21 lakh crore, BRS Deputy Floor Leader in the Assembly T Harish Rao has alleged that the Congress government was misleading the people by presenting incorrect and inconsistent figures on the State's borrowings. In an open letter addressed to Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, Harish Rao sought to counter the Congress government's claims with what he described as documentary evidence, including Assembly records, RBI data and video clips.

According to Harish Rao, the total borrowings of the BRS government over its nine and a half year tenure, including government guaranteed loans repayable by the State, amounted to Rs 4.17 lakh crore. He said he had stated the same figures in the Assembly and continued to stand by them, recalling that he had also challenged the Congress government to an open debate on the issue.

Harish Rao said he had sent an open letter to Minister Jupally Krishna Rao through WhatsApp along with three sets of supporting material, including the video of his Assembly speech on the BRS government's borrowings, the video of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's Assembly statement on the Congress government's borrowings and the Reserve Bank of India data on State debt.

Referring to Jupally Krishna Rao's recent letter, Harish Rao noted that the Minister claimed the Congress government had borrowed Rs 1,77,058 crore between December 2023 and June 2026. However, he pointed out that RBI data showed the Congress government's borrowings had reached Rs 1,86,067 crore as of June 30, 2026.

He also cited Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's statement in the Telangana Legislative Assembly on March 18, 2026, in which the Chief Minister reportedly stated that the Congress government's FRBM borrowings and other liabilities together stood at Rs 3,47,294 crore.

Harish Rao alleged that while the BRS had consistently maintained the same debt figures, the Congress government was repeatedly changing its numbers to suit its political narrative. He further claimed that, according to BRS calculations, the Congress government had already mobilised nearly Rs 4.5 lakh crore through various borrowing mechanisms since assuming office.

Urging Minister Jupally Krishna Rao to verify the evidence sent to him, Harish Rao appealed to the Congress government to stop what he termed as false propaganda on Telangana's borrowings and present accurate facts before the people.