Congress, BRS Shielding Each Other’s Graft: Bandi Sanjay

 Karimnagar: Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar accused the Congress and BRS of colluding to protect each other’s corruption. He alleged that the Congress government has failed to address corruption by the previous BRS regime, despite having evidence, due to what he described as a mutual “Raksha Bandhan” bond.

Speaking to the media after celebrating the Rakhi festival with his family at his residence in Karimnagar on Saturday, the Union minister questioned why the Revanth Reddy government, which discussed the Kaleshwaram Commission’s report in Cabinet meetings, chose to ignore the report on irregularities in electricity purchases. He claimed Congress leaders avoided discussing the report because they had received a substantial commission.

In response to BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao’s threat of legal action over phone-tapping allegations, Sanjay Kumar said he is not afraid and ready to confront the matter politically. He challenged Rama Rao to take an oath at a temple, mosque, or church, along with his family, asserting that he was not involved in phone tapping. “I will come with my family members and swear that Rama Rao engaged in phone tapping. I dare Rama Rao to respond if he has any courage,” Sanjay Kumar said.

The minister dismissed the effectiveness of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, stating that it lacks the authority to question high-ranking officials and judges whose phones were allegedly tapped. He called for a comprehensive investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to uncover the financial transactions linked to the phone-tapping scandal.

Sanjay Kumar alleged that the previous BRS government blackmailed businessmen, politicians, and celebrities, collecting hundreds of crores of rupees through phone tapping. He criticised the government for appointing Prabhakar Rao as chief of the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB), claiming it violated central home ministry rules, as he was a retired officer at the time. He urged BRS MLAs to quit their party out of shame, self-respect, and anger, reminding them that their own phones had been tapped by the previous government.

He also demanded that BRS MLC K. Kavitha and former minister T. Harish Rao be questioned in connection with the case. Responding to Rama Rao’s comments about his knowledge of intelligence systems, Sanjay Kumar said he did not possess the kind of “intelligence” that destroys families, as he alleged Rama Rao did.

The Union minister noted that the SIB was meant to focus on Maoist activities but was instead misused by the previous BRS government for phone tapping, extortion, and blackmail. He expressed a lack of trust in the state government to conduct a fair investigation, citing delays in other cases such as Kaleshwaram and the Formula E race, and pointed out that central agencies currently lack jurisdiction to investigate the matter directly.

Caption for Photo-2a of Puli file-2 : Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar’s sister Kaveti Shailaja tying rakhi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan festival at his residence in Karimnagar on Saturday.