Denying that there was any irregularity in organising the Formula E race in the state capital, former municipal administration and urban development (MAUD) minister KT Rama Rao has challenged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to a debate on the issue in the ongoing session of the Assembly.
In a letter addressed to Reddy the BRS leader claimed that the Hyderabad E- Prix event had contributed Rs 700 crore to the state economy and accused the Congress government of spreading falsehood as political vendetta.
The state Cabinet has formally decided to proceed against Rao in this case after receiving the nod from Governor Jishnu Dev Varma. Rao seemed irked by the reports that the state Cabinet debated at length on the issue and wrote, “Reports suggest that even in the Cabinet meeting held under your leadership this week, this topic was discussed for about one and half hours. Additionally, there are various leaks from the Chief Minister’s Office to the media, hinting at filing cases on this matter and claiming that the Governor has granted approval. Instead of having a closed-door discussion, the truth about this matter should come out before the four-crore people of Telangana through a debate in the State Assembly.”
He claimed that, according to a Nielsen report, the event contributed approximately Rs 700 crore to the state’s economy. He blamed the Congress government for cancelling the next edition of the race unilaterally and then spreading falsehoods about the event to create “unnecessary doubts” among the public. “I reiterate that there were no irregularities or corruption in the Formula E race issue. This event, which brought goodwill to the state and Hyderabad city, was sacrificed purely due to your political vendetta,” said Rao who is more popular as KTR.
Rao had reportedly issued verbal instructions to the then departmental secretary Arvind Kumar to release Rs 55 crore to the organisers of the Formula E Race before Assembly elections from Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) for the next edition of the race. However, the BRS lost the elections and the new Congress government cancelled the event. KTR, along with Arvind Kumar and HMDA chief engineer BLN Reddy came under the scanner for misappropriation after forgoing procedures before releasing the funds.