Ready To Face Any Probe Into Formula-E Race Controversy: K T Rama Rao

BRS working president K T Rama Rao dismissed the investigations as "distraction games" played by the Congress government to deflect attention from unfulfilled poll promises.

New Delhi: Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president K T Rama Rao on Thursday claimed that the exodus from his party has stopped and identified the ruling Congress in Telangana as their main rival, even as he expressed readiness to face any probe into the Formula-E race controversy.

"I am ready for any probe," Rao told PTI in an interview, responding to allegations of diverting Rs 55 crore to a Formula-E racing company without cabinet approval during his tenure as municipal minister.

Rao, better known as KTR, dismissed the investigations as "distraction games" played by the Congress government to deflect attention from unfulfilled poll promises.

Dismissing speculation about his father and Leader of Opposition in Telangana Assembly K Chandrashekar Rao's absence from the House, KTR said: "For now, we are enough to tackle him (Chief Minister Revanth Reddy). KCR will come when the time comes." He said the focus should be on the government's implementation of six poll promises rather than KCR's attendance.

On party defections, he stated that while "10 MLAs have left who are in suspended animation", the exodus has stopped. Analyzing the recent assembly poll defeat, KTR cited failures in "perception management" and "communication". "We lost by a whisker, we lost by four lakh votes," he said, acknowledging communication gaps in conveying the party's achievements to voters.

Despite providing employment to 1.60 lakh youth and implementing a 73 per cent hike for government employees during their 10-year rule, KTR admitted these accomplishments failed to resonate with voters.

The party also struggled to effectively counter criticism over issues like the Medigadda barrage failure in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, he said. In assessing the political landscape, KTR positioned the Congress as the primary opponent while downplaying the BJP's influence.

"Right now because the Congress is in power, I feel it is my rival and the BJP is a lesser rival. The BJP does not have an organisation base," he said, criticizing BJP ministers as being "biggest cheerleaders for Revanth Reddy."

The BRS leader also went on the offensive, demanding a central probe into alleged irregularities in AMRUT scheme tenders. He accused the chief minister of awarding contracts to relatives, drawing parallels with controversies in Karnataka and Jharkhand.

"It is a clear-cut case of 'office of profit' like in the MUDA case in Karnataka and land scam case involving Hemant Soren in Jharkhand," KTR alleged.

The BRS leader termed the Congress government's performance "abysmal" and called for a survey to assess the implementation of what he called "half guarantees".