Hyderabad, June 13 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Friday slammed Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for repeatedly issuing ACB notices in the Formula-E race case, calling it a diversionary tactic to distract the public from his “administrative failures”.

KTR, as Rao is popularly called, alleged that the Congress government, having come to power on “false promises”, has now resorted to “circus-like distractions” to cover up its incompetence.

“This joker Chief Minister is donning a new disguise each day to shift focus from his governance failures. No matter how many notices he sends, this bankrupt Congress government cannot stop us from being the voice of the people of Telangana,” the BRS leader said in a statement.

KTR said that the Formula-E event brought global recognition to Hyderabad and Telangana. Instead of taking pride in it, CM Revanth Reddy chose to cancel the race for political reasons.

He stated that Rs 44 crore was transferred transparently and officially from the HMDA’s government account to the Formula-E organisers and that the money still remains in the Formula-E organisation’s account. “Yet, the CM, who has failed to retrieve this money due to sheer administrative incapacity, is now once again using ACB notices to create a political spectacle,” he said.

He accused the CM of deliberately avoiding efforts to recover public funds and instead weaponising the issue to harass political opponents.”Regardless of how many times they summon me, the fact remains that every rupee was spent with transparency. The truth is known to all,” KTR affirmed.

He confirmed that he has received a fresh ACB notice on Friday and, as a law-abiding citizen, will fully cooperate and appear before the ACB on Monday at 10 a.m.

However, KTR pointedly reminded the public that CM Revanth Reddy himself was caught red-handed ten years ago with a black bag full of cash in the infamous “Vote-for-Note” scandal- a case that is still pending under the same ACB.

“Against this backdrop, where both of us are facing ACB probes, let’s take a lie detector test live on television in the presence of a judge. Let the people of Telangana decide who is guilty and who is not,” KTR challenged.

KTR also condemned the Congress government for wasting public funds on repeated enquiries, while simultaneously claiming the state treasury is bankrupt. “If you’re truly serious about integrity, stop wasting taxpayer money and agree to a lie detector test. Give the people of Telangana the opportunity to see the truth unfold live.”

–IANS

ms/vd