The Congress government in Telangana, helmed by Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy, is celebrating its 1st anniversary with much fanfare.
Despite the precarious financial condition, the Congress government managed to fulfil some of its election promises, including implementing a farm loan waiver. It also created an active grievance redressal mechanism (both online and offline), improved (compared with the BRS) the people’s access to bureaucrats and elected representatives, initiated a comprehensive socio-economic and caste survey (nearing completion), and created a controversial urban body (HYDRAA) to restore the lakes in the State.
A significant concern, however, is the looming legitimacy crisis as most of the mega projects announced by the government face stiff opposition from the public. The criticism is that the government has taken unilateral decisions without consulting the stakeholders. The Musi riverfront development project is one such. Protests against a proposed “pharma village” in Lagacherla (in the Chief Minister’s constituency) have prompted the government to pivot to building an industrial corridor instead. Efforts to acquire land for Future City (a new city on the periphery of existing Greater Hyderabad) have also hit a wall.
By all accounts, the government’s performance has been a mixed bag. But the opposition BJP and the BRS have been peddling the political narrative that the Congress government’s first year has been a failure.
