KTR challenges Revanth to order judicial probe into assets of both families

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Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president K T Rama Rao unfurling the national flag at the party office in Hyderabad on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Arrangement

Working president of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to face an inquiry by a sitting High Court or Supreme Court judge into the assets of the families of Mr. Revanth Reddy and BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Addressing a press conference at the party office — Telangana Bhavan — after hoisting the national flag on Telangana National Integration Day, KTR said the inquiry should cover every acre of land and every rupee of assets acquired by the two families. He said the BRS was prepared to face any legal consequences if any wrongdoing was established against its leaders.

He also challenged the Chief Minister to extend the ongoing Assembly session by a month and revoke the suspension of BRS MLAs to enable the Opposition to raise issues relating to the Congress government’s electoral guarantees.

Referring to allegations over Mr. Chandrashekhar Rao’s farmhouse at Erravelli, he said the Chief Minister had earlier alleged a 1,000-acre farmhouse but had subsequently stated in the Assembly that the extent was 67 acres. He asked the Chief Minister to identify the remaining 933 acres and said the BRS would be prepared to register them in favour of the government if the allegation was established.

He said the 67 acres had been disclosed in Mr. Chandrashekar Rao’s election affidavits and taxes and stamp duty had been paid as applicable. The 67-acre farm holding could not be viewed in isolation from his family’s ancestral land and the compensation received when ancestral lands were submerged following the construction of the Upper Manair project.

Mr. Rama Rao also defended his own wealth, saying he had obtained an MBA in the United States and worked abroad for more than six years before entering politics.

He alleged that BRS legislators had been suspended from the Assembly because the government did not want to face questions on its promises. He also criticised the Chief Minister’s speech in the Assembly, alleging that several claims made against the previous government had not been substantiated.

KTR criticised the government’s handling of lands included in the prohibited properties list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act. He alleged that a large number of privately-owned properties had been included in the list and accused the government of creating difficulties for landowners seeking their removal.

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