Hyderabad, Aug 14 : Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday claimed that the Congress government in Telangana raised debt of more than Rs 50,000 crore in just eight months.

The former minister said this debt was without the government adding a single new infrastructure project.

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, said the Congress spread canards and half-truths about BRS driving the state's debt up but was now breaking all sorts of records.

'The 'Change' that Congress is ushering in a '5,900 plus Crore Revenue Surplus in 2023 ! They had spread canards & half-truths about BRS Govt driving the state's debt up & now they are breaking all sort of records They've just crossed the 50,000 Crore debt mark within 8 months that too without a single new infra project,' KTR said in a social media post.

'At this amazing rate, I see an additional 4-5 lakh crore of debt being added in next few years,' said the BRS leader.

In another post, KTR alleged that villages and towns are stinking under Congress' rule. He claimed that governance in the rural areas has completely collapsed while the situation has become worse in the towns.

The panchayats are reeling under severe crisis as the funds due from the Centre and the state government have stopped, he said.

KTR alleged that sarpanchs, whose term expired recently, are caught in a quagmire of debt as they have not been paid the bills for the work done during the last eight months.

As the management of sanitation and drainage has become worse, the lives of the people in the villages have become a daily grind. Dengue and malaria are rampant in panchayats due to lack of funds even for mosquito repellents, he alleged.

'Playing with the lives of the people without releasing funds for panchayats. Is this your people's governance,' he asked.

He recalled that the previous BRS government was releasing Rs 275 crore promptly every month to panchayats. 'Today, 1800 former sarpanches were illegally arrested for asking for pending bills,' he said.

KTR wanted to know when the government will release to gram panchayats Rs 500 crore received from the 15th Finance Commission. He asked why Rs 2,100 crore central funds received for the Employment Guarantee Scheme and Health Mission were diverted.

/IANS