BRS, Karnataka Congress leaders refute Rs 500-cr offer allegation

Telangana PCC chief Revanth Reddy's claim that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao offered Rs 500 crore to a Karnataka Congress legislator for the party's defeat in Karnataka polls was termed as “attention seeking, baseless allegation” by the BRS leaders, while former Karnataka CM and CLP leader Siddaramaiah said it “is a lie.”

The sensational comments raised the political heat in both states going to polls this year.

Revanth has last week accused BRS supremo KCR of hatching a plot to obstruct the Congress victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections scheduled to be held in April-May.

“112 is the halfway mark in the Karnataka assembly. As survey reports indicated Congress wins in 120-130 seats, KCR conspired to defeat our party there in 25-30 seats. For this purpose, the CM held negotiations with a key leader in Karnataka Congress. They met thrice at KCR's farmhouse and the CM made an offer of Rs 500 crore to the leader,” Reddy told reporters on Wednesday in Hyderabad, after the conclusion of the BRS national foray launch in Khammam.

Further alleging that the Telangana state intelligence sleuths were deployed in Karnataka, Revanth said that he can prove his allegations with evidence.

“From whom did KCR take the supari (contract) to defeat the Congress in Karnataka? Can KCR deny my allegations as false?” asked the TPCC president.

Reports emerged that Karnataka former minister and Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed had met KCR last month, a meeting felicitated by Rohith Reddy, the BRS MLA representing Tandur bordering Karnataka. Rohith is the complainant in the BRS MLAs' attempted poaching case and is facing the ED probe.

Admitting his meeting with KCR in Hyderabad, Khan refuted the Rs 500 crore offer allegations. “If someone says I got an offer just because I met a certain somebody, what can I do? I don’t have any such offer,” Khan said, adding that “Rohith is a close friend who took me to KCR.”

Khan points out that Revanth did not specifically name him.

The BRS and Karnataka Congress leaders rubbished the allegations.

“Do you really believe that an MLA is being given Rs 500 crore? I’d believe it if the amount was, say, Rs 50 crore. It’s a lie,” said Karnataka Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah.

Ravula Sridhar Reddy, a BRS leader, said Revanth's accusations are “a joke, meant to divert public attention from the massive success of the BRS Khammam rally.”

“Deals of buying-selling legislators is the forte of Revanth. He was once caught red handed and was jailed too,” Ravula told DH, referring to the 2015 cash for vote scandal during the Telangana MLC elections, when Revanth was a TDP legislator.

Speaking to DH, K Keshava Rao, the BRS Parliamentary leader, stated the allegations as utterly unmeritorious. “I don't even want to comment,” the senior Rajya Sabha MP said.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar too refused to comment on Revanth's allegations. "I don't know about it," he maintained.

Kumaraswamy's absence in Khammam

Revanth had further questioned JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy's absence at KCR's Khammam rally which was attended by the AAP, SP and Left's top leaders.

“Kumaraswamy abstained as he came to know about KCR's secret, nefarious designs,” Revanth said.

Ravula, chairman of Telangana State Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation, sought to remind that Kumaraswamy was present during the BRS name announcement event in Hyderabad in October and at the New Delhi party inauguration in December. “Our friendship with JD(S) is intact and we will work together.”