BRS cannot seek sympathy after ignoring grieving families in the past, says Revanth

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) has no moral right to seek votes on sympathy grounds for its Jubilee Hills bypoll candidate Maganti Sunitha, asserting that a party which once disregarded grieving families like that of P. Janardhan Reddy (PJR) “can not now appeal to voters on sentiment.”

Mr. Reddy also said the BJP’s repeated allegation that the Kaleshwaram project had become an “ATM” for the KCR family is hollow unless it pursued the matter through proper investigation, and challenged that if the case were handed to the CBI, KCR and his son would be arrested within 48 hours.

Mr. Reddy demanded that the CBI register an FIR in the Kaleshwaram case by November 11 and called for the arrest of K. Chandrashekar Rao, Harish Rao and K.T. Rama Rao, while asking why Mr. Rama Rao is not being allowed to be arrested in the Formula E race case

Addressing a corner meeting in Rahmath Nagar, he said the BRS leadership is asking for support following the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath, but had earlier violated long-standing political practices meant to leave the seat to members of bereaved families.

The Chief Minister recalled that after the sudden demise of former Minister P. Janardhan Reddy (PJR) in 2007, both the TDP and BJP stepped back from contesting to ensure the family was not put under pressure. “It was the TRS, now BRS, that broke the tradition by fielding a candidate against the PJR family,” he said. He added that PJR’s family members were made to wait outside for hours when they sought an appointment with K. Chandrashekar Rao, describing it as evidence of “disrespect and insensitivity.”

“Those who ignored a grieving family then are now asking for votes in the name of sentiment. What was wrong for them then cannot become right for us now,” he said. He added that the party, which offered no ministerial space to women during its time in power, is now speaking of women’s sentiment for electoral gain.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Mohammed Azharuddin, MP Anil Kumar Yadav, MLAs, MLCs and Congress candidate Naveen Yadav were present.

Mr. Revanth Reddy reiterated that the Congress government had delivered key welfare measures in Jubilee Hills, including 14,197 ration cards, 200 units of free power to 25,925 families, and the distribution of 23,311 quintals of rice every month. Girl children were availing free travel in RTC buses, he said, contrasting this with what he described as “ten years of neglect” under the previous government.

He accused the BRS and BJP of coordinating their political strategy in the bypoll and challenged Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy to ensure that the CBI registers an FIR in the Kaleshwaram project case by November 11 if the BJP believes its own allegations against the former Chief Minister’s family. He questioned the delay in acting on the Governor’s request to arrest K.T. Rama Rao in the Formula E race case, alleging that both parties are shielding each other.

He urged voters to support Congress candidate Naveen Yadav, saying the government would sanction 4,000 houses for the poor in the constituency after the byelection.