BRS Under Pressure: Formula E Case Reopens Old Political Battlefronts

 Hyderabad: The BRS which has been making attempts to regroup after its loss in the Jubilee Hills byelection earlier this month, came under fresh pressure on Thursday with news that the Governor had allowed the ACB to file a chargesheet against party working president K.T. Rama Rao in the Formula E race case.

The party quickly rallied around Rama Rao, slamming the Congress government and accusing it of targeting Rama Rao for questioning the government on its failures.

Leading the charge was senior party leader T. Harish Rao who questioned the timing of the permission, saying,“This is one more attempt to throttle and intimidate KTR and silence him from holding the government accountable in the run up to the expected elections to the local bodies. No amount of fake cases or unlawful cases against KTR will deter him from questioning the government on its failures.”

Thursday’s development reignited the debate on a political collusion between the Congress and the BJP, something the BRS has been claiming for a long time, and allegations by the Congress that the collusion was between BJP and the BRS.

The permission from the Governor could not have come at a better time for the BJP as the BRS, after the Jubilee Hills bypoll result was announced, had staked claim to being the only legitimate opposition in the state, especially after the BJP came a distant third. The Governor’s permission gives the BJP the opportunity to claim that it has nothing to with the BRS, and begin mounting pressure on the Congress government to move fast to prove its charges of corruption and diversion of money by Rama Rao in the Formula E race case.

The development also provides the BJP with a window to stake claim that it is the opposition that people can count on and reiterate its charges that both Congress and the BRS are parties steeped in corruption.

For the BRS, this presents yet another opportunity to ‘prove’ its charges that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has been colluding with the BJP all along, and target the state government, and smear the Congress and the BJP as parties of the same hue, that they were undermining the independence of the people of Telangana and attempting to rob their only voice, which the BRS claims to be.

Others in the BRS, including BRS leader in the Rajya Sabha K.R. Suresh Reddy, and party MP V Ravichandra rushed to defend Rama Rao. Suresh Reddy told reporters that the Governor’s action was an attempt to try and weaken the BRS. “The Congress and the BJP are desperately trying to weaken regional parties. The BRS is the voice of Telangana and this voice will not be silenced. The Formula E race case will be a self goal for the Congress,” Suresh Reddy said.

Union minister of state for home and BJP leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar, meanwhile, said it was now for Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to respond and take action, now that the Governor had given permission to proceed in the case.

“But what is happening in Telangana is that there is ‘RK rule’ — R for Revanth and K for KTR. To divert attention from this, Congress keeps blaming us. The Congress said before the elections there was lot of corruption by BRS. So where are the cases or why has no one been arrested from that party,” Sanjay asked.

He said: “Revanth Reddy and Congress have been blaming the BJP all along alleging we have ties with BRS and that is why the Governor is not taking any action. Now that the Governor has approved the government request, what is Revanth Reddy going to do? So far, despite claims of various cases and wrong doing by BRS leaders, not a single person was arrested by this Congress government. There are secret ties between the Congress and the BRS and the state is set for them to get revealed now.”

Elsewhere, Bhongir MP and state Congress vice-president leader Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy slammed Sanjay’s comments and charged the BJP with being hypocritical when it comes its ties with the BRS.

On Sanjay’s comment that the state was being run by Revanth Reddy and Rama Rao, Kiran Kumar Reddy said:“It was the BJP which always supported the BRS. Why did the BJP which accused the BRS government of corruption never take action despite being in power at the Centre?”

The Congress MP said that if Sanjay was serious about action against corruption, he should ensure that the Central department of personnel and training gives permission to the state to prosecute IAS officer Arvind Kumar, who is accused number two in the Formula E race case.

Timeline:

The race case

Tripartite agreement signed in 2022 between BRS government, UK-based Formula E Racing Operations (EFO), event sponsors.

Formula-E race conducted in Hyderabad in February 2023

Disputes between FEO and event sponsor allegedly pushed the state government into assuming financial responsibility without regulatory approval.

This is said to have resulted in significant losses.

The funds, said to be Rs.55 crore, were transferred to FEO from the HMDA illegally, most of it in foreign curency.

Second edition of race initially planned for 2024, cancelled after Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

2024

Oct. 18: Then-municipal administration secretary M. Dana Kishore lodges complaint with the ACB seeking an inquiry into alleged irregularities in the holding of the Formula E race during the BRS government tenure.

Dec. 19: ACB registers cases BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, minister in the BRS government, IAS officer Arvind Kumar and HMDA former officer B.L.N. Reddy.

Dec. 20: ED registers cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against the three accused.

2025

Jan. 8: ACB questions Arvind Kumar, again on July 3.

Jan. 9: Arvind Kumar appears before ED for questioning, followed by Reddy the next day.

Jan. 9: Rama Rao appears before the ACB for questioning for the first time, then also on May 28 and June 16.

Jan. 16: Enforcement Directorate questions Rama Rao.

Feb. 17: ACB questions team member of UK-based Formula E racing Limited.

Sept. 9: ACB writes to government seeking approvals for prosecution from Governor. Government sends a report to the Governor for approval.

Nov. 20: Governor gives approval to the government to prosecute Rama Rao.