Harish Rao terms Budget unrealistic, demands clarity on Rythu Bharosa, farm loan waiver

In a blistering attack on the Congress government, BRS deputy floor leader in the Assembly T. Harish Rao on Monday charged the ruling party with misleading people through its ‘unrealistic and unplanned’ Budget-2026-27, calling it an empty statement unsupported by facts.

He also demanded a categorical statement on the dues under Rythu Bharosa scheme, farm loan waiver and fee -reimbursement schemes.

Participating in the general Budget discussion in the Assembly, he said the Budgets presented over the last three years, including the vote-on-account, were neither grounded in reality nor supported by fiscal discipline. He said the Budget does not offer any guarantee on the six guarantees promised by the Congress before the general elections.

Mr. Rao claimed that every Budget the government had presented so far had dramatically fallen short of its own projections. Citing figures from past Budgets, he pointed out that the 2024–25 Budget showed a 20.3% gap between estimates and actual receipts, while the 2025–26 financial year was heading toward an 18% shortfall based on CAG data available up to January.

“With the government now projecting a higher estimate of ₹3.24 lakh crore for 2026–27, even achieving ₹2.75 to ₹2.8 lakh crore in actuals would be difficult, potentially leading to yet another deficit of ₹45,000 crore to ₹50,000 crore,” Mr. Rao said.

Continuing his attack on the government’s fiscal claims, Mr. Rao turned his focus to the economic indicators highlighted by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, arguing that the government’s lofty statements masked a far more troubling reality.

Turning to the farm loan waiver, Mr. Rao accused the government of repeatedly shifting its own numbers.

In Siddipet alone, he said more than half of the 43,000 farmers eligible for farm loan waiver had received nothing. A similar situation, he claimed, existed in Adilabad and several other constituencies.

Mr. Rao challenged the government to visit a single village and confirm that loan waivers had truly reached all beneficiaries. “You may silence my voice, but you cannot silence the tears of deceived farmers,” he said, and criticised the government for backtracking on its promise of paying ₹15,000 per acre annually under Rythu Bharosa.

Mr. Rao demanded that the government’s stance on the pending ₹19,000 crore udner Rythu Bharosa and when it planned to raise farmer support to ₹15,000, as promised.