Congress withdrew promise to form Telangana leading to deaths: Harish Rao hits out at Chidambaram

HYDERABAD: Telangana Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao has lashed out at senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram stating that the withdrawal of the announcement of Telangana's formation by the Congress resulted in the deaths of thousands of youth during the movement.

Reacting to the former Union Minister's comments on the BRS, Harish Rao took to X (formerly Twitter) and refuted Chidambaram's statements on Telangana's debts and income. He defended the fiscal discipline of Telangana and claimed that it was better than that of Congress-ruled States.

Harish Rao advised Chidambaram to go through reports from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand the State's financial condition better and challenged him to bring the Congress to power in his home State Tamil Nadu if he had the courage.

Harish Rao criticised Chidambaram for making false statements about the history of Telangana and stated that it was due to the withdrawal of the announcement of Telangana statehood that had cost the lives of thousands of youth. He also found fault with Chidambaram's remarks on Potti Sriramulu's sacrifice and alleged that it was due to the then Congress Government's negligence that Potti Sriramulu succumbed.

“It is not KCR, but Chidambaram who is unaware of history,” he said and asserted that the people of Telangana were not innocent and would teach a befitting lesson to the Congress by voting for the BRS.

Earlier, Chidambaram stated that Telangana's debt had significantly increased during their nine-and-a-half-year rule of the KCR Government. He also made allegations on the high price of gas cylinders and the insufficient funds allocated to the education and health sectors.