Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 23 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President KT Rama Rao on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Congress-led Telangana government after appearing before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged phone-tapping case.

Addressing reporters, Rama Rao said that for the past two years, numerous stories had been circulated to assassinate his personal character and that of the party leadership. He alleged that baseless claims were made suggesting that the phones of certain actresses were tapped and that illegal activities had taken place.

'I asked the SIT point of view and I said, whose phone was tapped? Why don't you give me the information? Which is this actor who is complaining to you or the information that you have, why don't you produce it? Then the ACP there says, no, we have already clarified, no such thing has happened. Enquiry, the investigation that is going on into phone tapping. I have reminded the gentlemen from the Special Investigation Team, I have asked them. There have been numerous stories in the last two years, assassinating my character personally and also assassinating the character of our party leadership. But enough damage has been done to me, to my party leadership, to my family, to all the constituents of my constituency. Saying, stating and speculating that certain actresses' phones were tapped and something illegal was done,' KTR said, addressing the reporters.

The BRS leader appealed to the media to exercise caution while reporting government claims. Rama Rao further alleged that the Congress government's incompetence, failures, and corruption had been exposed over the past two years. Citing the AMRUT scam and the Singareni coal scam, he claimed that the Chief Minister's brother-in-law was allegedly involved in both cases.

'So I appeal to the media, please treat everything that the government throws at you, everything that is given to you with a pinch of salt. Please corroborate. Please verify. Please check the facts and only then publish. I also appeal to the media, for the last two years, this government's incompetence, their failures, their corruption is being exposed by BRS leadership day in, day out. Be it Amritsar scam where chief minister's brother-in-law was the kingpin or be it coal scam in Singherini where again the same gentleman is the kingpin,' he said.

Calling for a shift in focus, he said attention should be on governance failures. KTR claimed that state revenues were declining and that Telangana was burdened by corruption under the current administration. He urged the media to focus on the delivery of the six guarantees promised by the Congress, the misery people are facing, and alleged corruption in the administration.

'Let us focus on real issues. Let us focus on the failures of Congress party and Congress government. They had made 420 promises to the people of Telangana by which they got into power. Today, they have been a disaster. Their government has been a disaster. Revenues are slipping. Telangana is falling under the weight of the corruption of the Congress government. My humble appeal to the media also is to please focus on delivery of six guarantees. Please focus on the misery in this administration. Please focus on the corruption in this administration. Please focus on real people issues, not these fabricated stories and manufactured stories. Cooked up stories, so to speak,' he added.

Earlier, former DCP P Radhakrishna Rao alleged that telephones belonging to media industry bigwigs, retired cops, and politicians were monitored during the BRS government tenure. He alleged it was done to keep tabs on then Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's political rivals.

During the 2023 assembly elections, officers in Telangana allegedly intercepted the communications of several political leaders, businessmen and Tollywood celebrities, he claimed. (ANI)