HYDERABAD: The Telangana Congress has filed a complaint with the Moinabad police in Hyderabad, demanding a probe into 12 MLAs who joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now BRS) in 2019 and the ongoing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegations. attached to the investigation. Attempt to woo four BRS MLAs
Telangana Congress President, A. Revanth Reddy with CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka; AICC secretary Sampath Kumar, TPCC working president Mahesh Kumar Gaur and others submitted the complaint to the Moinabad police, where the BRS MLAs filed a complaint against the BJP for luring four of its MLAs with money and other benefits.
In its complaint, the Congress Chief Minister K.K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who is also the then TRS and now BRS President, is also demanded an inquiry. It added that the offenses were punishable under sections 171A and 34 read with sections 120-B and 171-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and sections 7, 8, 13 and 14 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. There should be an inquiry. The complaint was clubbed with FIR No. 455 of 2022 registered at Moinabad Police Station. The FIR pertains to the attempt to poach BRS MLAs by the BJP.
The Congress party named all the 12 MLAs who were elected on Congress ticket and later joined the erstwhile TRS and mentioned how each of them benefited from switching loyalty and this includes monetary and political gains. The complaint states that Sabita Indra Reddy was inducted into the state cabinet, while Devireddy Sudheer Reddy was made the chairman of the Musi River Front Development Corporation. Rega Kanta Rao was made the whip in the assembly. Gandhara Venkataraman Reddy received monetary benefits and his wife Jyoti was made the chairperson of the Bhupalpally Zilla Parishad.
Those who cleared their contracts and other pending bills included Kandla Upendra Reddy, Vanma Venkateswara Rao, Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, while those who were paid included Atharam Sakku, Chirumarthi Lingaiah, Jazla Surender, Rohit Reddy and Haripriya. Banoth was involved.
The complaint further states that the modus operandi allegedly adopted by the BJP to induce the TRS MLAs to join the BJP included monetary benefits, government civil contracts and other high central government positions linked to monetary benefits The modalities and benefits are similar. The offers were made by TRS and allied accused persons to lure former Congress MLAs to join TRS.
The complaint lodged by Shri Rohit Reddy cannot be viewed in isolation or independently from each other as there are overlapping persons in both the MLA horse-trading and defection cases. The investigating agency should trace the entire chain of criminal conspiracy behind the 12 MLAs joining TRS to bribing public servants by political parties.
Later, speaking to reporters, Mr. Revanth Reddy and Mr. Vikramarka said that the 12 defector MLAs were in constant touch with political heads of TRS for defection purposes in TRS. Interestingly, three of these 12 MLAs were now involved in horse-trading by the BJP and a case was registered under FIR No. 455 of 2022 at Moinabad Police Station. Tandoor MLA Rohit Reddy is the complainant in the case.
Congress leaders accused the state government of encouraging defection as a policy and this was reflected in the developments after the formation of the state. During the first term of TRS from 2014 to 2018, a total of 4 MPs, 25 MLAs and 18 MLCs from different political parties joined TRS. “During the second term from December 2018, 12 Congress MLAs and 4 MLCs defected,” he said.
