Anumula Revanth Reddy, revered as 'Tiger Revanth' by his followers, took oath as the chief minister of Telangana at LB Stadium in Hyderabad on December 7.
Reddy became the first Congress chief minister since the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. The 54-year-old led the party to secure a thumping majority with 64 out of 119 seats in its fold. However, the daunting task of fulfilling the "six guarantees" the Congress had pledged in the election manifesto lies ahead of him.
These guarantees were seen as the major driving factors behind the party’s victory in the state. However, with Telangana's outstanding public debt reportedly estimated at Rs 3,57,059 crore, the road ahead for Reddy may not be a cakewalk. One of the guarantees was “free travel for women” in Telangana State Road Transport Corporation buses. According to PTI, the Corporation earns Rs 2,500 crore annually due to women passengers. If the Congress fulfils this promise, it will have to replenish the same amount to the Corporation. The report stated that the Corporation is reeling under accumulated losses of Rs 6,000 crore.
The Congress had promised to waive farm loans of up to Rs 2 lakh. Earlier, the KCR-led BRS government had estimated Rs 21,000 lakh crore to waive up to Rs 1 lakh. According to reports, the Congress government needs to allot at least Rs 35,000 lakh crore for the next five years to implement the farm loan waiver.
As many as 42 lakh farmers were identified as beneficiaries during the previous regime.
The Congress also promised an annual grant of Rs 15,000 to farmers and Rs 12,000 to farm workers per acre under the Rythu Bharosa guarantee scheme. During the BRS regime, the farmers were paid Rs 10,000 under the same scheme.
Also read: A crown of thorns awaits Revanth Reddy
According to NDTV, the BRS government paid Rs 72,000 crore under a similar scheme as Rythu Bandhu in its last tenure with 70 lakh farmers as beneficiaries. The latest installment could not be released because of the poll code. If the Congress has to implement the same scheme, it will need to shell out Rs 1 lakh crore in the next five years.
Political analyst S Nagesh Kumar told NDTV that Reddy’s regime will face opposition when it will try to roll out these schemes. “The first challenge that he is going to face is the implementation of six guarantees. Karnataka also said the same thing that they will implement immediately... The state is reeling under a debt of Rs 5 lakh crore. The Centre has steadfastly refused to increase the borrowing limits under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003,” he said.
According to a Moneycontrol report, the precarious situation may lead to Reddy poaching BRS MLAs as KCR did in his two terms,repeating the precedence of defections as was the case during the KCR rule. Like the Congress under Revanth’s leadership, the TRS won only 63 seats in 2014, which kept KCR perpetually on tenterhooks.
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