HYDERABAD: Six months after the Munugode byelection, BJP MLA Eatala Rajender on Friday made a controversial claim that the Congress was given Rs 25 crore by the BRS for campaigning in the bypoll. Rajender admitted that he couldn’t provide evidence of the transaction due to the way it was done, but insisted that “everyone” knew it to be a fact.
Speaking at the BJP party office in Nampally, Rajender said that Congress and BRS were two sides of the same coin, and they would ultimately join hands either before or after the forthcoming Assembly elections. Rajender further argued that during the Huzurabad and Munugode byelections, people openly admitted that they wouldn’t vote unless they were paid for it.
Rs 6,000 crore spend on Huzurabad polls: MLA
“They also said that they would vote for the party that paid them more,” the BJP MLA reminded. He claimed that it was a “fact that Rs 6,000 crore was spent during the Huzurabad byelection”, but the Election Commission took no action.
Prove charges within 24 hours, says Revanth
In response, TPCC president A Revanth Reddy challenged Rajender to prove his claim within 24 hours. Revanth also stated that he had not accepted any money from BRS or Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. He accused Rajender of insulting the hard work of the party workers and their support and called the MLA’s statement “an unforgivable crime”.
Revanth went on to say that Rajender’s comments were lowering the standards of political discourse, and he was ready to take an oath in wet clothes at Bhagyalakshmi temple in Charminar at 6 pm on Sunday to prove his innocence.