Telangana CM Revanth Reddy recently refused to walk into a supposed trap laid by The Wire ‘journalist’ Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who repeatedly asked him if his government had faced troubles in seeking funds from the central government.
In an interview for far-leftist portal ‘The Wire’, infamous for its hitjobs against the centre with stories like the ‘Tek Fog’ and ‘Meta’, which they had to eventually pull down, Ms Sherwani cited the resentment among the opposition-led government in Kerala, Karnataka, and West Bengal to ask if Revanth Reddy is also facing issues in securing funds from the Centre.
“This is just the start, I can’t take a sweeping position on it. Until now, I haven’t faced any issues concerning getting funds from the Centre. I have no complaints with them,” says Reddy, adding that he would not like to jump the gun and wait for the future to comment on something that has not happened yet with him.
Ms Sherwani then highlights how the governments of Karnataka, Kerala, and even Mamata-Banerjee led TMC government in West Bengal, who took a train full of people to Delhi to convey her displeasure over funds allocated to their respective states.
Mr Reddy astutely responds stating that he is unaware of the allegations against the centre by Karnataka CM or Mamata Banerjee.
“I am not aware what the Karnataka CM or Mamata Banerjee or others have been saying nor have I paid much attention to what they have been doing because it is not my responsibility…As of now, we (Telangana) have no problems with the Centre. If we ever face a problem with the Centre, we will straight away point them out to the central government,” Reddy said.
Interestingly, the interview was published on the day when the Centre informed the Supreme Court that it is prepared to permit the Kerala government to borrow Rs 5,000 crore, contingent upon specific conditions, to address the state’s financial challenges, marking it as a “highly unique and extraordinary step.”
Nevertheless, the Kerala government stated that Rs 5,000 crore “falls short of our needs” and emphasised that the bare minimum necessary amount stood at Rs 10,000 crore.
Mr Reddy also spoke about the excuses proffered by politicians who fail to win elections. When asked how would Congress and Rahul Gandhi win elections when the BJP supposedly manages the media, Mr Reddy stridently responds by saying that media can only create perception, it cannot make political parties win or lose.
“There, media is under control, but here in Telangana, 95 per cent of the media is owned by KCR, and yet we defeated him in the elections. Media can only create perception, it cannot decide the fate of the political parties,” Reddy said.