Ignoring all the 420 election promises that the Congress party made in Telangana, the Congress government is allegedly splurging Telangana public money in Maharashtra through newspaper advertisements in light of the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
Ironically, in Telangana, while farmers protest on the roads demanding a loan waiver, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is boasting in Marathi newspapers, claiming that all farm loans have been waived in Telangana. It is reported that around Rs. 15 crore has been allocated by the Telangana government for pro-Congress advertisements in Maharashtra.
Reportedly, these ads have been placed in six Marathi newspapers and three English dailies. These advertisements prominently feature the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, along with images of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge.
In an attempt to bypass the Election Commission’s model code of conduct, these ads appear to be labeled as private rather than official government ads from Telangana’s Information and Public Relations (I&PR) department. Reports indicate that an agreement was made with a media agency, and the work order has been allotted as part of this arrangement.
The advertisements boast that Telangana has implemented 13 significant welfare schemes, including a farm loan waiver benefiting 22 lakh farmers to the tune of Rs. 18,000 crore, interest-free loans amounting to Rs. 1 lakh crore for women’s self-help groups, 50,000 new jobs, and the construction of Indiramma houses for the underprivileged.
While the reality of fulfilling these promises is different, the ads—filled with vibrant images and details of various schemes—have appeared prominently on front pages across Maharashtra. As the Congress government has allocated Rs. 300 crore in the budget for advertisement and visual publicity, questions arise about whether these funds are being used for ads in Marathi newspapers.