Etala paid Rs 25 cr to Revanth for Huzurabad poll win: Kaushik Reddy

Hyderabad: Padi Kaushik Reddy, government whip in the Legislative Council, alleged that BJP legislator Etala Rajendar had paid Rs 25 crore to TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy to win the Huzurabad Assembly bypoll.

Kaushik Reddy dared Rajendar to swear under oath at the Sri Rama temple in Ellanthakunta of Huzurabad to disprove his allegation. Addressing mediapersons at the BRS office on Sunday, Kaushik Reddy said that he had previously stated the same when Rajendar joined the BJP in 2021.

“Revanth reacted to charges levelled by Etala that he took Rs 25 crore from the BRS to defeat BJP in the Munugode bypoll. Revanth rushed to the Bhagyalakshmi temple to condemn Etala’s charges. But Revanth remained silent on the revelations made by me during the Huzurabad bypoll. I demand Revanth answer why he chose to keep mum on my revelation,” Kaushik said.

Terming Rajendar and Revanth Reddy as “two sides of the same coin,” Kaushik Reddy said, “Is it not a fact that Revanth and Etala entered into a shady deal for the Huzurabad bypoll when they attended the wedding of Congress leader Vem Narender Reddy's son at a hotel in Hyderabad. Is it not true that a Rs 25-crore transaction happened between them in the same hotel? If my allegations are false, Etala should come to Sri Rama temple to take a vow that he did not pay Revanth.”

He said that the latest allegation regarding Rs 25 crore for the Munugode bypoll was the outcome of differences between Revanth Reddy and Rajendar on sharing the money.

Kaushik Reddy termed Rajendar and Revanth Reddy as ‘sales CEOs’ for the Congress and the BJP. He said Rajendar was not the chairman of BJP's joining committee in Telangana, but that of the “brokers’ committee.”