Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 23 : Ahead of appearing before SIT in connection with phone tapping case, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao on Friday launched an attack on Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, calling him a "thief" and alleging that the latter was trying to buy BRS MLAs when they were in power.
Speaking to ANI, he claimed, "In 2015, when BRS was in power in Telangana, we held a man with Rs 50 lakhs who had come to buy our MLAs. Unfortunately, this thief is the current CM of Telangana. This thief thinks everyone works the same way he does."
He maintained his stance that the SIT notice would not deter or scare them, as they are not in the wrong, and slyly remarked that it is free publicity for them.
"He thinks we will be scared by a police summons. We have no problem appearing before the police, as we have not done anything wrong, and this also gives us free publicity," he said.
Rao claimed that the CM had been running a slander campaign against him for two whole years. "Give me evidence if I have done anything," he said, further questioning the grounds of the summons.
Taking direct aim at Reddy, he said that he is the victim of character assassination and "If anyone is responsible for this, it is the CM."
He alleged that due to the probe, government ministers have become scared to speak to them.
"The ministers in the Congress government are scared to speak to us on the phone because they fear their phones are being tapped."
These remarks come after Rao reached the Telangana Bhawan ahead of the scheduled SIT probe in relation to alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS regime.
Heavy police deployment was made in and around the Jubilee Hills ACP office ahead of his appearance.
He has been summoned at 11 am for his questioning. He will be questioned by the Investigating Officer regarding allegations that intelligence officers tapped phones under the direction of the then top leadership.
Rao on Thursday also alleged that the ongoing phone-tapping investigation in Telangana is politically motivated, targeting opposition leaders while diverting attention from governance failures.
Addressing the media in Sircilla, KTR described the SIT probe as a "time-pass exercise", claiming notices were issued selectively to BRS leaders while senior police and intelligence officials were not being questioned.
"If the investigation is genuine, senior officials should be questioned first. Instead, political leaders are being targeted," he said, calling the case baseless.