Club Cong MLAs defection with poachgate case: Revanth to DGP

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday wrote to DGP Anjani Kumar seeking a probe into the 12 MLAs who defected to the TRS (now BRS) and club the case with the ongoing investigation into the alleged BRS MLAs poaching case.

Revanth’s letter to the DGP comes in the light of the Telangana High Court rejecting the plea of the state government for a hearing of a single judge on its interim application on December 29 seeking stay on the transfer of the probe into the BRS MLAs poaching case from the SIT to the CBI.

Drawing comparisons between the two cases, the TPCC president asserted that both political parties used the same lure tactics to entice MLAs, and that the CBI which is probing the alleged BRS MLAs poaching case should also probe the case related to the Congress MLAs who defected to the TRS. A TPCC delegation led by Revanth Reddy complained to the Moinabad police last month, seeking action against the BRS leadership, including Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, for allegedly poaching 12 Congress MLAs. In a letter to the DGP, Revanth stated, “We have already filed a complaint in Moinabad police station on January 6. We request that the FIR we registered at Moinabad police station be clubbed with the ongoing investigation into the BRS MLAs poaching case, which is transferred to the CBI,” he pointed out.

"A total of 4 MPs, 25 MLAs, and 18 MLCs from various political parties defected to the TRS between 2014 and 2018. The MLAs who defected to the TRS received undue benefits,” Revanth alleged. The TPCC president alleged that Rohith Reddy (Tandur), Haripriya Banoth (Yellandu), AthramSakku (Asifabad), Chirumarthi Lingaiah (Nakrekal), Jajala Surender (Yellareddy) had joined the BRS for “monetary benefits”. P. Sabitha Indra Reddy (Maheshwaram), had received a ministerial berth, D. Sudheer Reddy (L. B. Nagar) was appointed as the chairman of the Musi River Front Development Corporation (MRFDC), while R. Kantha Rao (Pinapaka) was appointed as whip in the Assembly, Revanth alleged.  Further, he claimed that Vanama Venkateshwara Rao (Kothagudem), B. Harshavardhan Reddy (Kollapur), Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy (Bhupalpalle), and K. Upender Reddy (Palair) had allegedly received monetary benefits.