Kishan Reddy dares KCR for debate on Indian economy
Hyderabad, Feb 13: Union minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy on Monday said that he is ready for a debate with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on the country's economy.
Reacting strongly to CM KCR's speech made in the state Assembly on Sunday, the central minister alleged that he insulted the country and its hardworking people through his baseless comments.
"We are ready for debate. Will you come to Press Club or martyrs' memorial or want us to come to Pragati Bhavan or your farmhouse," asked Kishan Reddy.
The BJP leader also wanted to know from the chief minister if he would come with his resignation letter in his pocket.
Describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the most inefficient Prime Minister the country has seen, KCR had reeled out statistics to say that the country is lagging on various economic parameters. The chief minister had said that if the statistics given by him proved wrong he was ready to resign.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Monday, Kishan Reddy remarked that KCR will anyway have to resign after a few months as BJP will come to power in Telangana.
Kishan Reddy alleged that KCR misused his office and the Budget Session of the Assembly to target the Centre and the Prime Minister. He said KCR overstepped his limits to compare India with other countries but did not speak even a word about the state Budget.
He said that KCR spoke out of his ignorance about the state of India's economy and suggested that he search the data on Google.
Kishan Reddy asked if KCR did not know that during Manmohan Singh's tenure India was the 11th largest economy in the world but under Narendra Modi, it became the fifth largest economy. He also pointed out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that India will overtake Germany to become the fourth largest economy by 2027.
The BJP leader also disputed KCR's claim on India's high rate of borrowings and claimed that this is lower than the borrowings of countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. He said that the US'debt to GDP ratio is 120 per cent while for the UK it is 273 per cent. India's debt to GDP is only 19.9 per cent, he said.
The central minister questioned KCR's silence on the state's finance position and claimed that Telangana's debts, which were Rs 60,000 crore in 2014, have now mounted to Rs 5 lakh crore due to indiscriminate borrowings by KCR government.
He also alleged that thousands of crore of rupees were swindled in Telangana in the name of projects by raising debts.
The BJP leader asked why there was no debate in the Assembly on family rule in Telangana, double bed-room scheme, irregularities in Dharani portal, unemployment allowance and unfulfilled promise to allot three acres of land to every Dalit family.