Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy addressing the Advocates Meeting, organised by the BJP ahead of the Parliament elections, in Hyderabad on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G.
Telangana BJP president and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy has denied any “vendetta politics” behind the arrest of former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter and BRS MLC K. Kavitha by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and accused her of having had “dubious liquor deals” with the AAP government in New Delhi.
“The ED probe into Ms. Kavitha’s business deals has nothing to do with BJP or Telangana people or politics. A CBI investigation team stumbled upon evidence of her role in the illegal liquor business with the Delhi government and money laundering,” he alleged at a press conference held at the State office on Sunday.
“What is the BRS agitating against? Who asked her (Ms. Kavitha) to do beer and brandy deals in Delhi? Was it not enough to loot Telangana? It is shameful that the party is resorting to the burning of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s effigies when there are belt shops everywhere much to detriment to the society,” he said.
Mr. Reddy also claimed that the BRS MLC had “destroyed evidence” in the case even as the investigations were under way and tried to “obstruct” the ED probe. The Modi government had vowed to deal with corruption sternly and punish those involved, as per law. “Law will take its own course,” he maintained and also advised Ms.Kavitha to “admit to her role in the illegal liquor deal, apologise and accept the court verdict”.
The BJP leader also said the Congress government was making baseless charges against the Centre on the issue and accused it of not removing the illegal belt shops, thus continuing the same liquor policies of the previous regime.
“The Revanth Reddy government is spending more on publicising welfare schemes than actual implementation as only a small section is getting benefits. After demanding CBI investigation into the previous regime’s corrupt deals, he has gone back on his word on coming to power,” he said.
Ex-BRS MLA joins BJP
Earlier, welcoming former BRS Wardhannapet MLA Aruri Ramesh into the party, Mr. Kishan Reddy said he was getting “congratulatory” calls from “SC IAS officers” for the “positive wave” in favour of the saffron party in Parliament polls.
“We are sure to win a majority of seats in Telangana and will win many seats in the south as a whole because of endorsement by people of all sections about the Modi government’s development and welfare schemes in the last nine years minus any corruption charge,” he claimed.
Mr. Ramesh said despite pressure from the BRS leadership, he decided to join the BJP, attracted by Mr. Modi’s leadership and his commitment towards the SCs ‘ABCD’ categorisation. He is tipped to be fielded for Warangal Lok Sabha constituency. Former MLA Dharma Rao was present.
Later, at another press conference, Mr. Kishan Reddy along with Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman and other leaders released a poster and launched a website as part of the “digital” election campaign against the Congress government and its alleged failure in implementing the promised six guarantees before the elections.
