The white paper released by the Congress government led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy in the Telangana state assembly on Wednesday on the financial position of the state in the last 10 years of Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime has triggered a heated debate between the Congress and the BRS members.
Senior BRS leader and former state finance minister T Harish Rao led the counter-attack on the Congress government, describing the white paper as a bundle of lies, fabricated by the ruling party to malign the BRS with an intention of taking political vengeance.
“There is no truth in the allegations that the BRS government had not created any tangible assets but resorted to indiscriminate borrowings. It is evident that the Congress government is trying to escape from its responsibility of implementing its six guarantees by showing a grim picture of state finances,” he alleged.
Harish Rao also alleged that the white paper was prepared by a retired IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh, who was closer to Revanth Reddy’s political guru and former boss.
“Revanth has no faith in his own finance department officials. Hence, it asked a retired Andhra officer to prepare the document. If you continue to blame us, I shall be compelled to disclose his name,” the BRS leader said.
While it was obvious that Revanth Reddy’s political guru was Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, there was a curiosity among the media as to who the retired IAS officer was, who had prepared the white paper document.
It is not immediately known who this retired officer was, but the BRS sources say it could be former finance secretary P V Ramesh, who was closer to Chandrababu Naidu.
“He, with the help of some section officers in the state finance department, are believed to be behind the white paper preparation,” sources said.
The chief minister, however, said the government had taken facts and figures only from the budget documents, besides the reports of Reserve Bank of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General.
“We have not concocted any figures. Everything is in black and white. Our intention is to present a factual position, but not to backtrack on the implementation of our poll promises,” he said.