HYDERABAD: The Election Commission of India has written to the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, informing him that there was no evidence to support the allegations made by the TRS that money had been transferred from Sushee Infra to 23 bank accounts and that BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy who is in the fray for Munugode byelection has denied all allegations including any formal relationship with the company.
The ECI made the observation even as BJP general secretary and Telangana in-charge Tarun Chugh lodged a complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi, alleging that TRS was not only looking into the private bank accounts of certain individuals but was also tapping the phones of BJP leaders across the State, which he said, was an intrusion into privacy and was an offence under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
He was apparently referring to the TRS working president’s allegations that crores were transferred into the accounts of certain individuals and companies in Munugode from the account of Sushee Infra and Mining Ltd Company, allegedly at the behest of BJP candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy.
Chugh also complained that TRS has been directly transferring money to voters through Google Pay and Phone Pe, which he said, was the modus operandi adopted by the party in the previous elections.
Naming TNGO state president M Rajender, secretary Shravan Kumar and RTC employees union secretary Sh Thomas in his complaint, Chugh stated that, though they were public servants, were campaigning for the TRS candidate in Munugode byelection and were openly pressurising government employees and others to vote for TRS.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA M Raghunandan Rao, addressing the media in the Munugode constituency on Tuesday, said that allegations of KT Rama Rao on the transfer of money to accounts in Munugode were misleading and were intended to tarnish the image of the BJP candidate.
Citing Rama Rao’s complaint to the Election Commission and also his statements in the media that Rs 16 lakh was transferred to each of the accounts of Navya Sri, Kasarla Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, K Vijaya Vardhan Reddy, Poloju Rajkamal and Chintala Meghnath Reddy on October 14 were totally unfounded.
Revealing the bank statements of the individuals mentioned, he said that neither amount was deducted from Sushee Infra’s account till October 29, nor did it get credited to the accounts of these individuals.
He also said that the allegation of Rs 50 lakh being transferred to each of the accounts of Congress leader Pappu Raju Goud and his wife Aruna were also false.
“We knew that the State government has been tapping the phones of leaders since July 2015. It is now evident that the ruling party has gone one step ahead and was even looking into the bank accounts of the people. It is also clear that TRS MLA Pilot Rohit Reddy’s phone was also tapped. So, be it Opposition party leaders, or the ruling party MLAs, nobody’s privacy is being respected,” he said.
Demanding a probe into the phone tapping and bank account snooping allegations, Raghunandan Rao said that BJP was not going to leave the matter even after November 3, and will put those responsible in the dock.