Contrary to expectations, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) authorities of the Telangana police did not arrest Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former minister K T Rama Rao on Monday in connection with the alleged irregularities related to the conduct of the Formula-E race held in February 2023.
The ACB officials questioned KTR for nearly eight hours, posing several questions to gather information. After the interrogation, they let him go, stating that he might be summoned for a fourth round of questioning “if required.”
Speaking to reporters after leaving the ACB office, KTR dismissed the case as frivolous.
“They kept asking irrelevant questions repeatedly under pressure from Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. I made it clear that there was not a single paisa of corruption involved in this case,” he said.
However, since morning, KTR had been hinting at the possibility of his arrest.
He alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who had previously spent time in jail over the cash-for-vote scam in 2015, was trying to derive vicarious pleasure by having him jailed.
“He can’t do anything to me. Maybe, he’ll throw me in jail for 15 days just for the sake of it. But I am prepared to go to jail 100 times,” KTR said.
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud questioned KTR’s eagerness to be arrested.
“He is acting like Mahesh Babu in the movie Bharat Ane Nenu. He’s using dialogues straight out of a film,” Goud remarked.
The PCC chief further alleged that KTR seems to believe his political fortunes would rise if he goes to jail.
“He appears convinced that going to jail will help him become the Chief Minister. KTR is reportedly telling his close aides that if he goes to jail, he will become the CM,” Goud said.
He added that KTR is facing an inquiry because he misused his power while in office.
“He is overacting as if he wants to be arrested, creating the impression that the police will arrest him so that he can gain public sympathy,” he said.