KT Rama Rao blames Telangana CM Revanth Reddy for ongoing political disturbance

K.T. Rama Rao. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

“The appointment of Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi, who defected from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress party, as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman is a blatant violation and disrespect to the Constitution,” BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao has said.

He stated that the announcement was made on the same day on which the High Court had given a ruling instructing the Legislative Assembly Speaker’s office to fix the timeline for hearing the disqualification petitions filed by the BRS against Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari and Tellam Venkata Rao, who were elected on BRS tickets and defected to the Congress, within four weeks.

Recollecting how, as the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, A. Revanth Reddy spoke asking people to stone to death the defected MLAs in the past and how he himself was visiting the BRS MLAs houses and admitting them to the Congress party, Mr. Rama Rao stated that several Ministers and MLAs of the Congress were repeatedly speaking that only 10 BRS MLAs had joined them and more would follow soon.

Stating that the High Court ruling on the defected MLAs had filled fear among the them as also in the ruling Congress party, the BRS leader said they had first filed disqualification petitions before the Speaker by citing the Supreme Court judgment given in the matter of Congress MLAs joining BJP in Manipur in the past and then only moved the High Court. It was Padi Kaushik Reddy, the BRS MLA from Huzurabad, who had filed the petition.

Keeping it in mind, the ruling party had instigated attack on Mr. Reddy’s residence on Thursday (September 12, 2024) with the help of a mob comprising the Congress ‘goondas’ and followers of the Serilingampally MLA who himself led the attack from the front with the “full cooperation” of the police as they remained mute spectators during the attack. “It was the failure of the police officers on duty that day and they must be suspended for dereliction of duties,” he said speaking to newspersons at Mr. Kaushik Reddy’s residence on Saturday (September 14, 2024.)

“It was the responsibility of all the 10 defected MLAs to justify their joining the ruling party publicly and explain people in which party they were in now,” Mr. Rama Rao said adding that a factional-feud-like episode had taken place for the first time in Telangana politics and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was wholly responsible for it.

Mr. Rama Rao alleged that unable to keep the umpteen promises made as part of the six guarantees, Mr. Revanth Reddy was enacting a drama in the name of HYDRAA to divert people’s attention from the unfulfilled promises. He remarked that the nine-and-a-half months rule of Mr. Reddy was going on like “asmarthuni jeevana yatra” (journey of an incapable person).