Hyderabad: Following the release of video clips by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao supporting allegations of TRS MLA poaching and the submission of the same to the Telangana High Court, the BJP demanded on Wednesday that the Rao must appear in the court to explain how he obtained the so-called evidence before any investigation agency could.
Addressing a press conference, senior BJP leader, advocate and former party
MLC N. Ramchander Rao stated that the Chief Minister would technically be in contempt of court, especially since he shared the videos and other
information with judges and others across the country before the
investigating agencies could begin their investigation.
"After the Chief Minister presented the ‘evidence’, the Special Investigation Team was formed. The government’s legal counsel has apologised to the court on this. Now it is clear that a wrong was committed. The Chief Minister must appear in the court and file an affidavit with the explanations we are asking for,” he demanded.
Further, he questioned how the Chief Minister obtained all of the
information, including videos of events claimed to be evidence in the case,
and questioned whether the CM was snooping on its own MLAs.
“How did the Chief Minister obtain the information including videos of events that are claimed to be evidence in the case? Has the TRS government been tapping phones of its own MLAs? If so, does it have permission to do so,” he asked.
"The case does not fall under any Acts dealing with corruption. 'Where is
the corruption,' the court has asked. The Chief Minister must also mention
in his affidavit how he obtained the information, how the recording gadgets
were installed beforehand at the farm house, and how he received the tip
offs. Is he tapping the phones of his MLAs, and others. All of these questions must be answered.”
Ramchander Rao also accused the TRS government of large-scale corruption in the contracts awarded for the construction of the new State Secretariat
complex, various district collectorates, and other buildings in the state. "We demand a white paper on these contracts where there has been a lot of
corruption," he said.
