TRS candidate claims he paid Rs 10 cr for Sec’bad LS seat

By Ayaan Khan

In a telling example of the depths to which Indian politics has plunged to, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency S Venkat Reddy claimed that he secured the seat by paying Rs 10 crore to the party leaders.

This assertion— in full public view— came when he was confronted by rival candidates at the Telangana Bhavan who wanted to know how he managed the seat. The confrontation came soon after the fourth list of the TRS was announced on Friday. On hearing this, a failed aspirant S Rambabu and his men beat up Venkat and chased him out of the party office. Venkat is said to have suffered severe leg injuries.

Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat covers the better part of metro Hyderabad (including Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills) and has been allotted to the TRS by the grand alliance of TDP, CPM, CPI and the TRS. Analysts wondered how much Venkat would actually spend on electioneering, if he was willing to cough up Rs 10 crore to obtain the ticket. TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao was not available for comments. Analysts also asked if TDP, CPM and CPI would also like to carry the ‘moral burden’ of fielding such a man for a contest for the nation’s highest law making body.

Nothing much is known about Venkat Reddy’s antecedents, but sources said that he is a builder who had made a pile in the economic boom of 2005-07.

Venkat Reddy’s public confession is perhaps the first open indication of the money play in the elections. Sources at Telangana Bhavan said that one aspirant for the Serilingampally assembly seat (covering the IT district of Hi-Tech city and Gachibowli) which is yet to be announced by the TRS has allegedly paid the party leaders Rs 7 crore for securing the seat.

Pandemonium broke out at the TRS headquarters after the fourth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats were announced on Friday. Supporters of N Venkatesharlu who did not secure the Bhupalapalle assembly seat held TRS MP B Vinod Kumar responsible for his failed attempt and ransacked the MP’s house - 150 km away -in Warangal district and damaged the furniture.

The allotment of the Zaheerabad LS seat (that is in Greater Hyderabad’s adjoining district) to Syed Yusuf Ali, who had quit the TDP to join the TRS recently, triggered protests from followers of local leaders. Similarly, followers of S Laxma Reddy and P Raghupathi Rao, who were seeking tickets from Jadcherla and Gajwel assembly seats respectively, held protest demonstrations against denial of seats to their leaders.

Meanwhile, the TRS has named KCR’s son Taraka Rama Rao as its candidate for the Sircilla Assembly seat.