Hyderabad, February 2: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) staged a large-scale protest at the Ambedkar statue near Tank Bund, opposing the central government’s alleged neglect of Telangana in the Union Budget.
TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud led the protest, joined by ministers Seethakka and Ponnam Prabhakar. They paid floral tributes at the Ambedkar statue before commencing the demonstration.
Several key Congress leaders participated, including Government Advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir, MP Anil Yadav, MLCs Venkat and Egge Mallesham, Chief Minister’s advisor Vem Narendra Reddy, AICC secretary Sampath Kumar, and several MLAs, district Congress chiefs, and youth leaders. The party mobilised a significant number of supporters for the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Minister Ponnam Prabhakar accused the central government of being biased against Telangana. He stated that if BJP MPs from the state truly represented Telangana’s interests, they should raise their voices against the budget allocations. He also criticized the Centre for not providing funds despite repeated requests over the past ten years.
Minister Seethakka also expressed strong discontent, alleging that Telangana was ignored in the budget while the taxes collected from the state were not proportionately returned as funding. She termed the budget as an “election budget” rather than a true Union Budget. According to her, the BJP’s approach towards Telangana reflected discrimination, and she urged people to recognize this issue. She further alleged that BJP leaders were prioritizing religious events over development.
Former minister and government advisor Shabbir Ali echoed these sentiments, stating that Telangana had been consistently denied its rightful share. He questioned BJP leaders Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay on what they had brought to the state and demanded their resignations. He warned that this was only the beginning of the protests and that Congress would escalate demonstrations, including at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud announced that protests would be expanded to district headquarters on Monday to continue opposing the budget allocations. He urged Congress leaders, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, and party workers to mobilise at all levels, from villages to Delhi, in protest. Additionally, he called for the symbolic burning of effigies representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the agitation.
