Finance Minister T Harish Rao criticised union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for saying that projects funded by the Central government would display a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his statement issued on Sunday, Harish Rao asked Nirmala Sitharaman to clarify whether Modi, as Gujarat's Chief Minister, had ever done the same for then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at any ration shop. He asked her to explain why the Center is putting pressure on the state governments in this regard.
He questioned the Centre's politicised treatment of the states under opposition administration and its disregard for the federal structure. He recalled how the union government had unexpectedly ended numerous Central Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and decreased its participation, requiring the states to contribute more.
The Telangana Health Minister also questioned why the Centre was hesitating the suggestions of the Chief Ministers' Sub-committee, which NITI Aayog had set up to advise the Centre to lower the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS ) and bring programmes that were optional for the States.
He said that the Telangana people believe entirely in the TRS government and CM K Chandrashekar Rao. Central ministers have been advised to put an end to such conspiratorial politics.
Earlier, Telangana's minister for IT and Industry KT Rama Rao claimed that every Indian has a debt of Rs 1.25 lakh. His tweet on Sunday apparently responded to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that every child born in Telangana carries a debt of Rs 1.25 lakh.
"Madam FM waxes eloquent on Fiscal prudence; Till 2014, in 67 years 14 Prime Ministers of India together have raised a debt of Rs. 56 Lakh Crores Then came PM Modi Ji; in the last 8 years alone India's debt incremented by Rs.100 Lakh Crores Every Indian has a debt of Rs 1.25 Lakh," KTR tweeted.