Centre prioritises politics over State needs: Sridhar Babu

Hyderabad: The Union Budget runs contrary to the spirit of the Constitution and undermines the principle of cooperative federalism, Minister for IT and Industries Duddilla Sridhar Babu said on Sunday.

In a statement, the Minister said the Constitution recognises India as a Union of States and makes it clear that national development is not possible without the financial self-reliance of states. However, he alleged that the Union Government had disregarded this principle in the latest Budget.

Expressing disappointment that Telangana was not mentioned even once in the Budget speech, despite contributing over five per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, Sridhar Babu said the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ had once again failed to translate into equitable treatment for the state.

“While the Centre speaks of inclusive development, it has adopted a discriminatory approach towards Telangana in financial allocations,” he said, adding that political considerations had taken precedence over economic rationale, resulting in injustice to the state.

The Minister pointed out that the Centre had projected grants of Rs 22,782 crore to Telangana for the current financial year, but the state had received only about Rs 4,000 crore even after 10 months — less than 20% of the amount due. He termed this “fiscal suppression.”

He said the Constitution mandates equitable distribution of resources between the Union and the States, but the latest Budget once again reflected a violation of cooperative federalism.

Sridhar Babu also said the Centre had ignored repeated representations from the state seeking allocations for key infrastructure and development projects, including the Regional Ring Road, Metro Rail Phase-2, Godavari–Musi river linkage, the greenfield highway between Bandar Port and Hyderabad Dry Port, new airports, improved rail connectivity, and pending assurances under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

He demanded that BJP MPs from Telangana explain the Centre’s treatment of the state to the people and urged the Union Government to adhere to the constitutional principle of equality and treat all States fairly.