Harish Rao Accuses Congress Government of Betraying Minorities

Former Telangana minister T. Harish Rao accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil its promises to minorities and alleged that the community had been betrayed after the party came to power.

Speaking at a rights-seeking programme organised by the Telangana Turakakashi Welfare Association in Gajwel, Harish Rao said Congress had promised to allocate ₹4,000 crore for minorities in the budget and made several commitments through its Minority Declaration. He questioned how many of those promises had actually been implemented.

Harish Rao said the minority budget was around ₹300 crore before K. Chandrashekar Rao became Chief Minister and was gradually increased to nearly ₹1,800 crore under the BRS government. He alleged that the Congress government was currently spending only around ₹1,300 crore, about ₹500 crore less than the previous government.

He also alleged that the Minority Finance Corporation was not providing adequate benefits to Turakakashi and Muslim minorities. Harish Rao claimed that the BRS government had provided ₹1,550 crore in overseas scholarships to minority students, while the scheme had been weakened under Congress. He said only around ₹14 crore had been released over the last three years. He further alleged that Minority Corporation employees had not received salaries for seven months and Urdu Academy employees for nearly a year.

Highlighting BRS-era development, Harish Rao said Shadi Khanas were constructed and drinking-water facilities improved in Gajwel. He also cited Kondapochamma Sagar and Mallanna Sagar, along with check dams and canals, as key irrigation initiatives.

Harish Rao alleged that 5–10% of compensation was still pending for some Mallanna Sagar displaced families and demanded that the dues be cleared before water from the project is diverted to Hyderabad.

He also questioned the implementation of Congress' six guarantees, which were promised within 100 days. On Kalyana Lakshmi and Shaadi Mubarak, he alleged that nearly two lakh applicants were waiting for financial assistance and demanded immediate release of the pending payments.