Hyderabad, November 5, 2025
In a blistering attack that has reignited the Telangana political tinderbox, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Wednesday denounced Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy's much-touted farm loan waiver scheme as a "cynical election gimmick" designed to dupe drought-stricken ryots ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. Vowing a "people's uprising against betrayal," KCR announced plans for a sweeping statewide agitation, including tractor rallies and district-level sieges of collectorates, starting next week.
Speaking at a thunderous public meeting in Warangal, the BRS stronghold where he once scripted Telangana's statehood saga, the 71-year-old KCR didn't mince words. "Revanth Babu promised the moon with his waiver—₹2 lakh per farmer, they said. But what's the reality? A pathetic ₹31,000 crore disbursed to just 40% of eligible families, with banks playing hide-and-seek. This isn't relief; it's robbery in broad daylight, timed perfectly for vote banks," KCR roared to a sea of green BRS scarves and placards screaming "Loan Waiver Loot." Flanked by his son K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) and a phalanx of MLAs, he accused the Congress regime of inflating figures through "ghost beneficiaries" and excluding smallholders, leaving over 15 lakh farmers in the lurch.
The barbs stem from the Congress government's flagship promise, rolled out in March 2025, to waive ₹2 lakh in crop loans for 70 lakh farmers—a ₹40,000 crore pledge that helped propel Revanth Reddy's party to power in the 2023 elections. Yet, implementation has been mired in glitches: A state audit revealed discrepancies in Aadhaar linkages, with rural banks citing "technical delays" for holding back 60% of funds. Protests have simmered since monsoon failures ravaged kharif crops, pushing farmer suicides up 12% in the past quarter, per NGO reports. "KCR's tears are crocodile ones—he buried farmers in debt during his decade in power," shot back Congress MP Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, the deputy CM, during a counter-rally in Nalgonda. "We've already credited ₹25,000 crore; the rest by Diwali. BRS agitation? It's their funeral march."
Undeterred, the BRS war machine is mobilizing with military precision. KTR, the party's working president and a social media firebrand, tweeted a blueprint: "From Adilabad to Mahabubnagar, 10,000 tractors will roll on Nov 12. Join the Rythu Porata Sadassu—fight for real waivers, not photo-ops!" The agitation calendar includes gheraos of district treasuries, a 'Chalo Secretariat' march on November 20, and black-flag protests at Congress events. Party insiders whisper of alliances with farmer unions like the Telangana Rythu Sangham, potentially swelling crowds to lakhs. "This isn't politics; it's survival. Revanth's waiver is a waiver only on paper," said BRS MP from Zahirabad, Asaduddin Owaisi—no relation to the AIMIM leader—echoing KCR's call for a white paper on fund utilization.
The feud traces back to Telangana's foundational fault lines: Water wars with Andhra Pradesh, irrigation delays on the Kaleshwaram project (KCR's brainchild, now under scrutiny for cost overruns), and a agrarian economy still reeling from the 2022-23 triple drought. Economists peg the waiver's true cost at ₹35,000 crore, but fiscal hawks in the finance ministry warn it could balloon state debt to 30% of GSDP, squeezing welfare schemes. "Populist sops like this erode trust when delivery falters," noted Dr. M. Kodandaram, a political analyst at Osmania University. "KCR's playing the long game—positioning BRS as the farmers' sentinel ahead of polls."
Revanth Reddy's camp, sensing the heat, has ramped up damage control. The CM, addressing a video conference with bankers today, ordered "zero-tolerance" audits and promised doorstep verifications for excluded farmers by November 15. Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy dangled carrots: ₹5,000 crore in additional input subsidies and free power extensions. Yet, on the ground, skepticism reigns. In Suryapet, this reporter met 45-year-old paddy grower Venkatesh, whose ₹1.5 lakh loan remains uncleared: "KCR gave us statehood; Revanth gave us excuses. Agitation? Count me in—my family's starving."
As Hyderabad's humid air thickens with pre-winter tension, Telangana's corridors of power brace for showdown. Will KCR's agitation topple the waiver's house of cards, or fizzle into electoral fodder? With paddy fields parched and polls looming, one thing's certain: In the heartland of India's youngest state, the harvest of discontent is just beginning.
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