Stop creating north–south rifts, Telangana CM tells Centre
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Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Saturday urged the BJP-led central government to stop fostering divisions between northern and southern states, saying the Centre should not penalise high-performing southern states that contribute more fiscally than they receive.
Speaking at The Hindu Huddle in Bengaluru during a session titled “By, For, and Of the People: Good Governance for Telangana,” Reddy was in conversation with N. Ram. He noted that the President, Prime Minister and Union Home Minister hail from northern states and said the Centre should first demonstrate its commitment to women’s reservation by implementing the Bill in those states ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using “political gimmicks” on the issue.
Reddy also clarified that the Congress opposes tying women’s reservation to any increase in parliamentary seats. He objected to proposals that would raise Lok Sabha seats—citing a suggested jump from 20 to 30 seats in Kerala and from 80 to 120 in Uttar Pradesh—as unfair.
On employment, the CM said artificial intelligence has not produced equivalent blue-collar alternatives to replace white-collar jobs. He highlighted his government’s recruitment drive, saying Telangana has 2 lakh vacant government posts, of which 67,760 were filled in 15 months. He added that a fresh notification was issued recently and that recruitment for 5,000 police personnel would follow soon.
Describing Telangana’s urban planning terminology, Reddy outlined the state’s zones: The Core Urban Region Economy (CURE) within the 160-km Outer Ring Road, Peri-Urban Region Economy (PURE) between the Outer and Regional Ring Roads, and Rural Agricultural Region Economy (RARE) beyond the RRR.
On infrastructure, the CM said he is consulting Prime Minister Modi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on building a 12-lane highway to link Telangana with Machilipatnam port. He reiterated concerns about AI-driven white-collar job losses and pointed to the Young India Skills University—a public-private partnership chaired by Anand Mahindra—to boost employability. He said ITIs were upgraded into Advanced Technology Centres at a cost of ₹2,400 crore.
Reddy accused the Union government of discriminatory treatment in approving investments and withholding financial assistance. He said the state was restructuring short-term loans taken at 11–11.5% interest into longer-term loans at 7–8% and is working on restructuring about ₹2 lakh crore of debt. He also said he appointed Arvind Subramanian as a GST adviser and noted a rise in monthly GST receipts—from under ₹3,500 crore previously to over ₹4,000 crore in the last six months.
Reddy said he treats the media as a “back-office” source of information and regularly holds press conferences.