Congress offered me Rs 50 lakh: Rega Kantha Rao

A day after TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy challenged CM KCR to reveal the details of the deal given to the two Congress MLAs to jump ship, one of the defectors has come up with new allegations. MLA Rega Kantha Rao said that the Congress MLC candidate, Guduru Narayana Rao, offered him Rs 50 lakh for his vote in the election.

Saying that Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy and Congress Legislative Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka were indulging in mudslinging, Mr Kantha Rao, Pinapaka MLA, said they had informed that they will work with Mr Chandrashekhar Rao.

“We informed that soon after joining the TRS we will resign from the Assembly and seek election again. It is a shame that the Congress alleges that we sold out to the TRS. These statements damage the self-respect of Adivasis,” he said.

Taking on the groups in the Congress, the MLA said that there are about four of them among the 16 Congress MLAs remaining. As Congress leaders on Sunday said that protests will be taken up in the two constituencies, he challenged them to do so.

MLA Athram Sakku said that they had not sold out to the TRS and asked the Congress leaders to protest in their constituencies. “If they protest we will show our strength. When leaders of the dominant castes jump into other parties, the Congress leaders don’t say anything. As we are Adivasis, the Congress is targeting us,” he said.

Recalling that TRS MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy and MLCs of the ruling party had joined the Congress, Mr Sakku demanded that Mr Uttam Kumar Reddy expose the deal between them. Mr Narayana Reddy denied the allegations that he had offered `50 lakh to the MLAs for voting. “There is no need for us to offer money to any of the Congress MLAs,” Mr Narayana Reddy said.