'Perverse logic': Why Telangana's Rs 200-crore allocation for Miss World 2025 has sparked uproar

Miss World Krystyna Pyszkova’s visited Yadagirigutta Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Telangana

While reigning Miss World Krystyna Pyszkova’s visited Yadagirigutta Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Telangana, the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi questioned the Revanth Reddy government on why it was organising the Miss World Pageant show despite the financial woes.

“Visiting the YadagiriGutta temple brought me joy and peace of mind... And this is just the beginning! I can’t wait to see more of Telangana and its hidden gems!” the Czech beauty queen posted on Instagram.

The 72nd Miss World pageant is scheduled to take place in Telangana from May 7 to 31. The final event is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad. According to the BRS, the Congress government led by Revanth Reddy allocated Rs 200 crore for hosting the 72nd Miss World pageant

However, the BRS has expressed its concerns over the event’s cost and the state’s pressing financial obligations.

Why is BRS opposing?

The Telangana government on Tuesday presented a massive Rs 3.04 lakh crore budget for the financial year 2025-26. While Telangana’s Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who holds the Finance portfolio, read out the budget, the opposition party lawmakers protested. Holding dried crops in their hands, the BRS lawmakers shot down the Miss World event and sought Rs 25,000 per acre for affected farmers.

In a post on X, BRS working president K T Rama Rao questioned "perverse logic" behind the ruling Congress spending "crores of public money" while also prosecuting him over alleged irregularities in the Rs 46 crore Formula-E race scam. “Apparently spending ₹46 Crore for Formula - E race in Hyderabad was wrong & will attract cases being filed But spending ₹200 Crores of public money to conduct Miss World, a beauty contest is right !! What is this perverse logic? Can you please explain @RahulGandhi Ji,” Rao posted on X last week.

Planned during the BRS regime, the Formula E race was cancelled by the Congress citing financial constraints.

KTR has also accused the Congress of emptying Telangana's finances to meet untenable guarantees made and freebies offered before the 2023 election.

Fund crunch

Chief minister A Revanth Reddy recently admitted his government is facing a cash crunch due to the debt burden and other factors. He said the state government has been able to pay salaries to employees after obtaining a “hand loan” of Rs 4,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India.

Replying to a question in the state legislative council, Reddy said his government was struggling to pay salaries to its employees on the first day of every month regularly. “Like people in the villages take hand loans to meet their emergency needs, we are forced to approach the Reserve Bank of India every month to take ₹4,000 crore towards ways and means advances to pay salaries to the employees on time,” he said.

The chief minister also urged the employees to understand the situation and assured them of complete transparency regarding the state’s financial position.