Responding to the centre’s silence over allocation of funds for the Krishna Pushkaralu festival, the Telangana government has accused the centre of harbouring a bias towards Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA Vemula Veeresham told TNM that they wanted to celebrate Krishna Pushkaralu in a grand way but due to lack of financial support from the centre, they had drawn Rs 825 crore worth of funds from various state departments.
“We are disappointed. As always, the centre has funds for Andhra Pradesh and not Telangana,” he alleged.
BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao countered Veeresham’s allegations by saying that the TRS party had demonstrated a lack of planning and vision by approaching the centre for funds only a month before the festival.
“They should approach the centre three to four months in advance asking for assistance or funds. They cannot always blame the centre for not transferring funds to the state at the last minute,” he said.
He added that while Telangana was a revenue surplus state back in 2014, lack of proper fund management has now made it a revenue deficit state.
“They are even unable to fund their own pet projects like their 2-BHK housing scheme,” Krishna Sagar said.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to allocate Rs 601 crore for the festival. However, the state government is still awaiting response from the centre.
The 12-day festival will be held between August 12 and August 23. The funds will go into constructing roads, bathing ghats, installing drinking water taps as well as making security arrangements for the festival, said Veeresham.
Amidst the tussle over the fund allocation for Krishna Pushkaralu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Telangana on August 7, the first time since he assumed power.
During his visit, he will kick-off ‘Mission Bhagiratha’, a government scheme aimed at providing piped drinking water to every household in Telangana’s ten districts.