Hyderabad, Jun 16 (PTI) BRS Working President K T Rama Rao on Monday appeared before the Telangana government's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as part of its ongoing inquiry in the Formula E race case.
Speaking to reporters at the BRS headquarters here prior to his appearance, Rama Rao called the investigation against him "political harassment" and accused the Congress government of trying to divert public attention from its "failure" to fulfill the election promises.
"Maybe they will arrest me. But, one thing is sure. We had gone to jail earlier for the sake of Telangana (statehood). We are ready to go to jail again over a decision taken to promote Hyderabad's brand image. Ready to go to jail even 100 times. But, we will not spare the Congress government (on its poll promises)," he said.
He added that truth will triumph in the end.
The BRS Working President, who was the Municipal Administration Minister during the previous BRS regime, was questioned by the ACB in January this year in connection with the Formula E race case.
The ACB had registered a case against him over alleged payments, most of them in foreign currency without approvals, for conducting the Formula E race in Hyderabad in February 2023 during the previous BRS government.
Though the race was supposed to be held in February 2024 as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.
The BRS leader maintained that the race and the payments were part of efforts of the BRS government to promote Hyderabad's brand image.
After being grilled for several hours by the ACB sleuths, Rama Rao, addressing the mediapersons, said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy ran away from holding a discussion on formula E race case in the Assembly.
Refuting that there was corruption in the Formula E race, he further said it was a policy decision to conduct the race for the second consecutive year.
"It was a policy decision to conduct the Formula E race for the second consecutive year. And we have paid the amount. There was not even a single paisa of corruption," he asserted.
He further dared the CM to file any number of cases against him, saying that he would not back down.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)