BRS working president KT Rama Rao has received fresh summons to appear before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on 16 June in connection with the Hyderabad Formula E race. Last time, Rao had sought time from the ACB, citing his trip to the UK and the USA to celebrate the silver jubilee of the formation of the BRS party.
Rao has dismissed the case against him as politically vindictive and aimed at harassing him.
Former municipal affairs and urban development minister KT Rama Rao has received a fresh summons to appear before the ACB on 16 June at 10 am. If he decides to appear before the probe agency, this will be his second appearance. On 26 May, Rao had been served summons to appear before the agency on 28 May. However, he sought time from the agency since he was slated to travel abroad, but not before terming it “pure political harassment.” The BRS leader had further accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of orchestrating the interrogation so that it distracts the public, since a few days back, it was revealed that the latter’s name featured in the charge sheet of the National Herald case. He also accused Reddy of “schmoozing” with the BJP’s top brass and alleged that the Saffron party’s Telangana leadership was silent on Reddy’s involvement in the money laundering case.
The ACB has accused KT Rama Rao of committing irregularities in the Formula E case, directly transferring funds to the organisers when the official sponsors backed out. Rao maintained that procedures were jumped because it was election time and he had done it to save the image of the state. The BRS government wanted the Formula E race to be held in 2024 after its success in 2023 but the event was cancelled by the Congress government after it came to power citing huge costs.