"KCR Funding Other States. No Party In India As Rich As TRS", BJP Alleges

Accusing Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of siphoning public funds, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy on Monday said there is no political party in India as rich as TRS.

Mr Reddy's remarks came a day after the results of Munugode bypolls. "KCR took Rs 5 lakh crore debts. He spent Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Kaleswaram Commission project and the remaining money is with him. With that KCR is funding other states and other chief ministers."

Speaking to ANI, Mr Reddy said, "On a keenly fought elections in Munugode, BJP lost narrowly to TRS party. It is the effect of party in power using government machinery and police. KCR made Telangana very popular for alcohol and alcohol distribution. During Munugode elections, there was sale of Rs 300 crores of alcohol in Telangana. I wonder who spent it, but TRS definitely won. Congress lost its deposit."

Mr Reddy further refuted KTR's claim that BJP distributed money to garner votes in Munugode bypolls.

"We are the poorest people. TRS has Kaleswaram project and land grabbings. BJP is not known to be corrupt. KCR took Rs 5 lakh crores debts. To build the defunct project he spent Rs 1.5 lakh crore for Kaleswaram Commission project and the remaining money is with him. With that KCR is funding other states and other chief ministers. No party in India as rich as TRS. Telangana being the richest State, they have looted Telangana state," he said.

The former MP said Nalgonda was one of the weakest places for BJP in Telangana. He said the party is quite happy that after the election it could establish the lotus flag and village level organization in the area.

"Strangely enough all the parties are equally happy. TRS is happy because they won the election. If they had not, they would have collapsed after having failed in three consecutive elections earlier. BJP got a huge margin this time, considering the previous elections. We also established the party in Nalgonda. Congress is also happy as they cut the anti-incumbency votes which helped TRS," Mr Reddy said.

On the comment of KTR that EC is in the hands of Centre, the BJP leader said, "The first to complain was BJP. The first two rounds came quickly, and the next few were delayed. After we complained, they hurriedly complained later. Maybe it is a chronological mistake."

Mr Reddy alleged that TRS used the state machinery to win the bypolls. He said the state police supported TRS to win the by-election.

He said, "Central forces are deployed everywhere. If they were not deployed, we would have lost by 50,000 - 60,000 votes. The police in Telangana is known for supporting the TRS government. They are made to support the TRS government. I do not think they voluntarily support. The TRS transfers all good officers and put convenient officers. Why should anyone be scared of central government employees? Every vehicle that was caught during the elections belongs to TRS party. Cars without number plate were caught with alcohol and money."

TRS candidate Koosukuntla Prabhakar Reddy won Munugode bypolls in Telangana by a margin of 10,309 votes. According to the Election Commission, Prabhakar Reddy secured 97,006 votes amounting to a vote share of 42.95 per cent. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy came second with 38.38 per cent of votes.

As the TRS managed to win the Munugode bypoll, the party's state working president KT Rama Rao on Sunday took a swipe at the BJP and said that it failed to stop the TRS.

KTR also claimed that BJP spent hundreds of crores to win the election.

"According to our reports, BJP spent hundreds of crores and bags of money so that their candidate can win in the wrong manner. With money and liquor, they wanted to buy the Munugode voters," he further said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)