Hyderabad, July 18 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Friday hit back at Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, accusing him of mortgaging Telangana’s interests to his ‘guru’ and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Rama Rao alleged that since Revanth Reddy stood completely exposed following a meeting with Chandrababu Naidu in Delhi, he was making baseless allegations against him to divert public attention.

KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, challenged Revanth Reddy to show any evidence in support of his allegations linking him to drugs.

The former minister told a press conference in Khammam that he was ready to undergo any tests. He dared the Chief Minister to come out openly instead of indulging in ‘cheap talk’ and ‘gossip’ in the name of chitchat with the media.

During chit-chat with media persons in New Delhi on Thursday, the Chief Minister had alleged that forensic reports link KTR’s circle to drug use. He claimed that KTR’s friend Kedar died in Dubai due to the consumption of a cocktail of drugs.

KTR asked how he was concerned with someone’s death and threw a challenge to Revanth Reddy to show the evidence.

The BRS leader said Revanth Reddy resorted to the wild allegations to divert attention from the ‘guru dakshina’ which he offered to his ‘guru’, Chandrababu Naidu, in the form of the Godavari-Banakacherla link project.

KTR said after boasting that he would not attend any meeting discussing the Banakacherla project of Andhra Pradesh, Revanth Reddy silently reached Delhi, attended the meeting and bartered away the state’s interests on river water.

He said Telangana Chief Minister lied before the media that Banakacherla was not discussed in the meeting, as Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu went on record that Banakacherla was the first item on the agenda, and Revanth Reddy accepted the proposal of Andhra Pradesh to refer the issue to the joint committee to be constituted by the two states.

KTR said justice to Telangana in river waters is possible only when the Modi government make an announcement that Telangana has the share of 968 TMC in 1950 TMC of surplus Godavari waters and when Chandrababu Naidu withdraws the cases he has filed against Kaleshwaram and other projects of Telangana.

Rama Rao said whenever the BRS questions Revanth Reddy on his unfulfilled promises, failures and scams, he makes allegations either about phone tapping or Formula E race or Kaleshwaram to divert the public attention.

The BRS leader said, despite having the state police in his control, Revanth Reddy had failed to prove even a single allegation.

On Revanth Reddy’s allegation that he met Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh secretly, KTR said he did not meet Lokesh and asked what was wrong even if he had met him.

“I don’t operate in secrecy. Whatever I do, I do it openly. Lokesh is your big boss, Chandrababu’s son, not some Dawood Ibrahim. Lokesh is a good friend of mine. He is like a younger brother to me. He is educated, and he is not some bag-carrying thief like you,” KTR told Revanth Reddy.

The BRS working president advised Revanth Reddy’s family to take him to a mental hospital before he completely goes mad and starts roaming the streets, tearing his clothes.

Stating that Revanth Reddy was caught red-handed with money in a cash-for-vote scam, KTR reiterated his challenge that he is ready for a lie-detector test along with the Chief Minister.

The BRS leader also alleged that Revanth Reddy was tapping the phones of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and ministers Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy, as they are the aspirants for the post of the Chief Minister.

–IANS

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