Accusing Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar of vendetta politics and misuse of his position as a minister, BRS working president KT Rama Rao sent a defamation notice against him with a demand for an unconditional apology within seven days.

Bandi Sanjay is the second politician from Telangana to receive a defamation notice from Rao after State Forest Minister Konda Sureskha Sanjay Kumar. The BRS leader issued an ultimatum to him to tender an unconditional apology within seven days failing which he would take legal action against him.

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During a media conference on 19 October, Bandi Sanjay, in a personal attack on Rao, made certain allegations against him along with political criticism. Following this, BJP and BRS workers were involved in a scuffle over the protests by job aspirants in Ashok Nagar, where most coaching institutes and hostels are located. The BRS working president took exception to the allegations made by the BJP leader, particularly the implication that he was into drugs and he along with his father, K Chandrasekhar Rao, were embroiled in the phone tapping case during the BRS reign.

Sending the notice through his lawyers, Rao, who is popularly called KTR challenged Bandi Sanjay to prove that he is a drug user and that he and his father were involved in phone tapping.

Rao’s notice quoted Bandi Sanjay’s allegation, “Your father was named in the phone tapping case. However, no action has been initiated because you have colluded with the chief minister of Telangana.”

He also cited the allegation that the “chief minister did not demolish your farmhouse and did not proceed with the drugs case that you are involved in” due to collusion between the BRS and Congress. The Union minister had also pinned the blame for the fracas at Ashok Nagar on the regional party, saying the “BRS party tried to interfere with the peaceful protests and ensure that the members of BJP and the students are charged under several cases.”

Apart from seeking an unconditional apology from Bandi Kumar Sanjay, he was warned to desist from making further such statements lest legal action would be initiated against him.