Union minister vague in countering Telangana CM’s charge of ignoring Telangana
Deccan ChronicleHyderabad: After Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy expressed disappointment over Telangana's exclusion from the Union Budget and boycotted the Niti Aayog meeting, the BJP assigned Union consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi to address the concerns with detailed facts and figures. When questioned about Telangana's omission in Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech, Joshi responded that not all states are mentioned every year, citing a similar instance from the 2009-10 UPA Budget. At a press conference at the state party office in Nampally, Joshi outlined Budget allocations, including Rs 1.5 lakh crore as 50-year interest-free loans to states to boost economic capabilities. Joshi highlighted the Centre's recent announcement of MSP for major crops and an employment-linked incentive scheme expected to create 4.1 crore jobs.