Ready for a probe if the same yardstick applies to CM and Ministers: Harish Rao

Former Minister and BRS Deputy Floor Leader T. Harish Rao said he was prepared for any fair investigation, provided the same yardstick was applied to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Ministers and their associates.

“I am ready for a probe by a sitting High Court judge, not a pocket institution like the CB-CID. Is Mr. Revanth Reddy ready?” he asked, denying that he had ever sought personal favours from Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Mr. Rao said the BRS had written to the Chief Minister alleging 20 major scams under the Congress government and challenged him to order probes into all of them. He further alleged financial and political linkages between Mr. Revanth Reddy and Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy in land settlements and contract allocations.

Among specific allegations, he claimed that the Kodangal–Narayanpet Lift Irrigation tender was awarded to interests linked to Mr. Ponguleti, the Musi river beautification tender was being steered similarly, and illegal extraction worth hundreds of crores had occurred in Rajendranagar’s Manasa Hills.

Mr Harish Rao alleged a deep political and financial nexus between the CM and Mr. Ponguleti, and demanded that the Minister either resign immediately or be removed from the Cabinet, or the matter be probed by either a House Committee or a sitting High Court judge.

He alleged that the Chief Minister had ‘effectively admitted wrongdoing’ by Raghava Constructions. When the BRS had sought a House Committee to ensure a fair and transparent probe, the government denied a structured discussion in the Assembly and announced a CB-CID inquiry on its own terms, he claimed.

Mr. Harish Rao argued that a CB-CID inquiry cannot be impartial if the allegations concern a sitting minister. “How can a fair probe happen while the Minister remains in office?” he asked, contending that the inquiry was designed to protect Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy rather than uncover facts.