CM puts foot in the mouth- Apologises After Saying No Funds For Telangana

An enraged Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday put his foot in the mouth as he thundered at an equally livid Harish Rao during the noconfidence motion debate that the state government would not spare a single rupee for the Telangana region.The chief minister,whose outburst came in response to an angry assertion by the TRS MLA, later apologized and withdrew his statement,as did the latter. It all started when Harish Rao,who initiated the debate on the noconfidence motion,enumerated the funds allotted to the various districts in order to buttress his charge that the Telangana region was being neglected.Listing an instance,Rao said that while the government had sanctioned Rs.7,395 crore for a drinking water scheme meant for the CMs home district Chittoor,Medak district was given only Rs.180 crore for a similar scheme.However,we could extract even these meagre funds only after seizing them by the collar, the MLA said. It was this last statement that made Kiran Kumar flare up and lash out.Harish Rao has to mind his language.He is talking like a street rowdy.Make a note of it.I will not sanction a single rupee (for the Telangana region ).You do whatever you want, he said. The CMs outburst triggered uproar,with the pro-Telangana legislators led by TRS members rushing to the well of the House and demanding an apology.But an unfazed Kiran Kumar continued with his counter-attack : I was also born and brought up in Hyderabad.I am not the type to get bogged down by threats or flee out of fear.The Congress is the true representative of Telangana as we have more than 50 MLAs from the region,whereas the TRS has just 17. Meanwhile,leaders vied among each other to be heard above the din.TRS floor leader Etela Rajender said that Telangana deserves its share in the devolution of funds because 70 per cent of the states revenue comes from its 10 districts.We the legislators are servants of the public and must not be arrogant and use words as used by the CM on the allocation of funds, he said.As the din continued,the Speaker said he would go through the House records and take a decision. At this point,a more subdued CM apologized.What I meant to say was that I was not afraid of people like Harish Rao.My words were directed at him and never at Telangana or the separate state movement.Even then,if my words have hurt anybody,I will withdraw them. Following this,Harish Rao too said he would withdraw his remarks about seizing collars. This was not the first fracas between the duo during the days debate.The two leaders had clashed earlier after the TRS MLA alleged that Seemandhra leaders had cornered all the plum posts in the government and state Congress.The very culture of the Congress is anti-Telangana.In its regime,all the plum posts,including those of chief minister and PCC president,are reserved for the Seemandhra people, he alleged. Enraged by this,Kiran Kumar had intervened to say that he and his colleagues had come to power because of voters support and not due to favours by TRS leaders.The Congress is the party that made PV Narasimha Rao,a leader from Telangana,the Prime Minister, he said.Raos retort was quick.The Congress actually insulted PV by denying permission for his cremation in Delhi when all other former PMs were granted one, he said.Before the duel intensified,the Speaker had intervened and pacified the two leaders,allowing Harish Rao to continue his speech until peace was broken by the collar remark.