Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime, alleging that it carried out large-scale phone tapping to blackmail businessmen and extort hundreds of crores of rupees. Addressing a public meeting at Chelpur in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district ahead of the February 11 municipal elections, Reddy termed the BRS the “Blackmail Rajakeeya Samiti.”
He alleged that the previous government tapped the phones of opposition leaders, judges, journalists, film personalities, and even monitored private conversations between spouses. Reddy further claimed that the alleged surveillance was used to intimidate businessmen and collect money, including Rs 1,500 crore through electoral bonds.
The Chief Minister questioned why no strict action had been taken against BRS leaders and accused both the BRS and BJP of working together to weaken the Congress. He alleged that the BRS helped the BJP win Lok Sabha seats in 2024 to evade legal scrutiny and was now attempting to influence municipal elections in a similar manner.
Reddy also referred to the ongoing phone-tapping probe being investigated by a Special Investigation Team, in which former Chief Minister and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao was recently questioned. He rejected BRS claims about district reorganisation, clarifying that no district would be abolished or created without legislative discussion.
The CM also criticised the Centre for not ordering CBI probes into the Kaleshwaram project and the Formula-E race case, while appealing to voters to support the Congress in the upcoming municipal elections. He said the state government had sanctioned Rs 17,442 crore for municipalities and corporations across Telangana.