"Rs 200 Crore For Miss World Pageant?" Telangana Government vs Opposition

Telangana's opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi has pounced on Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's admissions - a Rs 71,000 crore revenue shortfall; barely enough cash to pay salaries, let alone Dearness Allowances; and "no money for capex" - to question spending Rs 200 crore on a beauty pageant.

Opposition party lawmakers protested Tuesday afternoon as the annual budget was read out in the Assembly. They carried handfuls of dried crops to emphasise claims of a "Congress-made drought" and shot down the Miss World event, demanding instead Rs 25,000 per acre to affected farmers.

Plans to host the 72nd Miss World pageant also slammed by BRS leader KT Rama Rao, who criticised the "perverse logic" behind the ruling Congress spending "crores of public money" while also prosecuting him over alleged irregularities in the Rs 46 crore Formula-E race scam.

"Spending Rs 46 crore for a Formula-E race in Hyderabad was wrong and will attract cases... but spending Rs 200 crore of public money to conduct Miss World, a beauty contest is right! What is this perverse logic? Can you please explain, Rahul Gandhi?" he asked on X last week.

Apparently spending ₹46 Crore for Formula - E race in Hyderabad was wrong & will attract cases being filed

But spending ₹200 Crores of public money to conduct Miss World, a beauty contest is right !!

What is this perverse logic? Can you please explain @RahulGandhi Ji ? https://t.co/Ss2A75vv8z

— KTR (@KTRBRS) March 11, 2025

"The Congress government wants us to believe all is well in Telangana... If that is true, why did the Chief Minister suddenly confess yesterday that there is negative growth... and a deficit of Rs 71,000 crore? Is Telangana rising or falling?" Mr Rama Rao, or KTR, continued Monday.

So Congress Govt wants us to believe that all is well in Telangana

Apparently according to them

- Investments are coming in thick & fast
- Agricultural Sector is growing
- Welfare is at its highest
- CM is working 18 hours a day

Then why did the CM turn approver all of a…

— KTR (@KTRBRS) March 17, 2025

The party itself, however, has also offered a slightly less aggressive statement, with spokesperson Krishank saying its red flag was more about the Congress' "double standards and hypocrisy" - the reference was to the Formula-E corruption case against KTR.

The BRS has been sharply critical of the Congress' misplaced financial priorities and its handling of the state economy, particularly lack of development under Mr Reddy's charge.

KTR has accused the Congress of emptying Telangana's finances to meet untenable guarantees made and freebies offered before the 2023 election, and said the ruling party's "negative politics and policies" had created a disconnect between its claims of progress and the ground realities.

The Chief Minister - whose bitter feud with KTR extended last week to the latter's "this mad dog..." barb - hit back by accusing his predecessor, K Chandrasekhar Rao, of bankrupting Telangana.

Mr Reddy also accused the BRS of having left the incoming Congress government with a massive public debt that requires monthly interest payments of Rs 1.53 lakh crore.

"If such a big amount had been saved, this government would have built houses for all... farm loans could have been waived for another 70 lakh people," he was quoted by news agency ANI.

Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, who is also the Finance Minister, said the state is working to clear financial backlogs and that Rs 10,000 crore in dues had already been settled.

Incidentally, this is the second consecutive year India will host the Miss World pageant; the 2024 edition was held in Mumbai, where Czechia's Krystyna Pyszkova was crowned the winner.