Telangana: KTR Appears Before ACB In Formula E Probe, Challenges CM Revanth Reddy To Televised Lie Detector Test

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K Taraka Rama Rao (KTR) appeared before the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday (16 June) for questioning regarding alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Formula E race. This marks his second summons this year in the case, reported India Today.

Ahead of his appearance, KTR addressed the media, sharply criticising the Congress government and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. “I know they will arrest me and send me to jail. Jail is nothing new to me. I am someone who has gone to jail many times for Telangana,” KTR stated, calling the probe politically motivated. He asserted, “As a law-abiding citizen, I will attend and fully cooperate with the ACB officials.”

The ACB is investigating the alleged misuse of Rs 44-55 crore during the BRS regime's organisation of the 2023 Formula E race, including accusations that the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) improperly transferred funds to London-based Formula E Operations (FEO).

KTR, the then Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, also faces accusations of instructing officials to have HMDA bear costs for a second, unheld event.

KTR denied wrongdoing, claiming the funds are “very much in the account of FE” and describing the probe as “a circus.” He challenged Chief Minister Reddy to a televised lie detector test, stating, “Let the whole of Telangana decide who’s the culprit. Do you have the courage to take the test along with me?” He also demanded an open debate in the Assembly on the spending.

The summons to KTR comes at a time when the BRS first-family looks like a divided house after an explosive letter written by his sister, K Kavitha, to their father, K Chandrasekhar Rao, came out in the public domain.