HYDERABAD: Launching a scathing political offensive, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday alleged that Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao held three secret meetings with Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, son of AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. “Why did Rama Rao meet Lokesh in secret? Why was there a midnight dinner? What’s the deal between them?” Revanth asked, alleging a covert alliance between the BRS and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Revanth accused the BRS of spreading misinformation and said party supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao’s family was “spitting venom” against his government. He accused the former chief minister of betraying Telangana’s aspirations and challenged him to an open debate in the Assembly. “I’m ready to take on KCR on the Floor of the House, but I won’t debate drug peddlers or bathroom cleaners,” he remarked, in an apparent dig at Rama Rao’s associates and comments over his frugal living as a student in the US.
Hinting at tensions within the Kalvakuntla family, the chief minister said even BRS MLC K Kavitha was not accepting Rama Rao’s leadership. “There are serious disputes within KCR’s family. Rama Rao is asking his father to make him the Leader of the Opposition, but KCR is refusing. Let them first resolve their internal family issues,” Revanth added.
The chief minister alleged that Rama Rao was “surrounded by a ganja batch”. “His associates are drug users. When I dared them to take a drug test, they vanished. His friend Kedar died of a drug overdose in Dubai. We have the forensic report and we’re ready to table it in the Assembly,” he declared.
We are not like BRS, we don’t tap phones: CM
On the phone-tapping case, Revanth said the investigation was proceeding under the supervision of Telangana High Court and dismissed calls for a CBI probe. “The BJP delayed former SIB chief T Prabhakar Rao’s return by 18 months. Show me where the state investigation has failed. The ED is already probing several cases. Union minister G Kishan Reddy should explain why there’s zero progress in those,” he said.
“Departmental inquiries aren’t completed overnight. Even in movies, the villain is arrested only in the climax,” he quipped.
The chief minister also hit out at the BRS for “habitual court stays” and claimed his government was not involved in any illegal surveillance. “This is not like the BRS era. We are not tapping phones.”
On governance, Revanth announced that local body elections will be completed by September 30. He reaffirmed the Congress government’s commitment to 42% reservation for BCs and accused KCR of slashing it from 34% to 23% by amending the Panchayat Raj Act in 2018.
“We will restore justice through an ordinance. Some are speaking without knowledge. Muslim reservations have existed since Independence. Even BJP-ruled states implement them. Let Kishan Reddy first remove them there before preaching to us,” he said.
Responding to criticism over his participation in the Centre’s water-sharing meeting, Revanth said he would soon meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the Tummidihetti project. “Am I expected to sit in a farmhouse like KCR, or should I work for Telangana’s interests? KCR skipped these meetings and stayed holed up in his farmhouse. We won’t repeat that mistake.”