Rise and rise of T'gana CM, fading of KCR from political domain, arrest of Allu Arjun mark 2024

The year 2024 was marked by political upheavals, significant highs and lows for parties, and moments of both celebrations and disappointments for the people of Telangana.

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

HYDERABAD: The state also witnessed intense political slugfests and controversies that grabbed national headlines.

The year began with the Congress, led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy, consolidating its power after its victory in the assembly elections on November 30 last year.

The Congress decimated the nine-and-a-half-year-old Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, led by K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), who was previously perceived as an invincible leader.

The Congress, which secured a thin majority of 64 out of 119 seats in the assembly elections, managed to bolster its strength by attracting 10 MLAs from the BRS, along with winning a by-election to the Secunderabad Cantonment assembly seat in June.

Inheriting the near-empty state coffers, Revanth Reddy spent the initial months struggling to implement his pre-election guarantees. Initially, he managed to roll out a few promises, such as free travel for women in state-run RTC buses and an increase in the free healthcare coverage limit for the poor in corporate hospitals from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.

After several months of mobilising resources through borrowings and other financial measures, the government fulfilled key promises, including supplying LPG cylinders at ₹500 for poor women, free electricity for households consuming below 200 units, and a major crop loan waiver of up to ₹2 lakh for 2.5 million farmers, costing over ₹21,000 crore.

However, the chief minister remains under immense pressure to implement other promises, such as extending financial assistance under the Rythu Bharosa scheme and aid to destitute women.