Harish Rao criticises Revanth Reddy for using sarees, SHG loans to influence women voters

Former Minister T. Harish Rao has accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of trying to influence women voters from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by giving them sarees and interest-free loans ahead of the upcoming gram panchayat elections.

Speaking at a program to distribute interest-free loans to SHG women in Siddipet on Tuesday, Harish Rao said that during the BRS government’s rule, sarees were given to all women during every Bathukamma festival. But he claimed the current Congress government is giving sarees only to SHG women.

He pointed out that while Telangana has 46 lakh SHG women, the previous BRS government distributed sarees to 1.30 crore women every Bathukamma. In Siddipet, he said the Congress government is distributing sarees to only 1.99 lakh women, even though 3.83 lakh women are eligible.

Harish Rao also said that the government did not distribute Bathukamma sarees during the last two Dasara festivals. Referring to Revanth Reddy’s comment that sarees given to SHG women are like a traditional gift from parents after marriage, he demanded that the Chief Minister instead provide the promised ₹2,500 monthly benefit under the Mahalakshmi scheme. He said women are owed two years of payments, which he estimated at ₹60,000.

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He further alleged that sarees and interest-free loans were not being distributed in towns and cities because there are no elections in urban areas. According to him, although the government says it gives ₹25,000 crore in loans to SHG women every year, only ₹5,000 crore of that is actually interest-free.

With the Election Commission expected to release the gram panchayat election notification on Wednesday, Harish Rao said officials were busy rushing to complete distribution activities in all villages by Tuesday evening.

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