HYDERABAD: Categorically stating that there would be no arrests made without due process of law being followed, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said that he does not advocate vendetta politics.
He was reacting to a question on rumours about the imminent arrest of BRS working president KT Rama Rao. In an exclusive interview with TNIE, the chief minister said: “Unlike BJP, without conducting a proper inquiry, we will not arrest anyone. We respect constitutional institutions and authorities. We will not arrest anyone for political vendetta.” He added: “If KTR does anything wrong, then he will go to jail. In the last 11 months, we did not file any political cases.”
Revanth said that if any wrong has been done, the departments concerned would lodge complaints. He said: “For example, following allegations of corruption in the construction of Kaleshwaram project, we appointed a judicial commission. Unless and until the judicial commission submits its report, how can I say who the thief is and what they did? Similarly, recently the Commission of Inquiry on power purchase has submitted its report to the department concerned. After the Cabinet goes through the report, we will table it in the Assembly for discussion. Thereafter, a case would be initiated.”
He said that the Congress will not adopt the practices adopted by the BJP of sending Opposition leaders to jail. “Congress will never emulate the BJP practice of sending its political rivals to jail by using ED and CBI. At the same time, the Congress will not spare those indulging in corruption. However, we will not send anyone to jail without due process,” Revanth said.
Stating that the BRS chief post is lying vacant, Revanth alleged that the son and nephew of former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao — Rama Rao and T Harish Rao — were fighting to occupy the post.
Responding to allegations regarding the Musi Riverfront Development Project, he said: “We want to rejuvenate the Musi and so we announced our policy. We had not prepared any DPR, so we were not given any details on the project. While there is no DPR, how can KTR say that the estimated cost of this project was Rs 1.5 lakh crore? How is this possible?”