Hyderabad: Discussing the Union Budget 2023, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday slammed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s (KCR) for calling the Centre’s vision of a 5 trillion dollar economy, a joke.
She further took a jab at the state’s economy and said that Telangana’s debt has mounted significantly in the last 7-8 years.
Speaking at the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Sunday, KCR had said that the target of a 5 trillion size economy was a ‘joke’ and a very low target. He had also said that while PM Modi won in the parliamentary elections of 2014, the country lost.
“Ex-PM Manmohan Singh worked hard and spoke less, it’s the opposite case with the current Prime Minister,” the Telangana CM had said.
Responding to his comments on the economy, Sitharaman said “CM garu don’t joke and let’s all speak about it (the Budget) with responsibility.”
“How can you tell that aim of 5 trillion economy is a joke? Every state should contribute towards it. Who are you laughing upon, the people? In 2014, debt of Telangana was Rs 60,000 crores, but in the last 7-8 years it has crossed Rs.3 lakh crores,” she added.
