Revanth Reddy Slams KTR For Refusing Drug Test

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & MP A Revanth Reddy on Monday castigated IT Minister K T Rama Rao for not turning up at Gun Park for a drug test.

He however told the minister to come whenever he was ready in the future, and asked the latter to inform him just an hour in advance. Reddy said that he too would undergo a drug test along with the minister, at the Osmania General Hospital.

As part of the "White Challenge" he threw, Revanth Reddy, along with senior leaders and hundreds of workers, reached Gun Park on Monday morning to undergo drug tests. Ex-MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who Revanth Reddy challenged to undergo the tests, also reached Gun Park at the scheduled time. However, KTR did not make it, and instead posted a series of tweets - apparently to escape the drug test, Revanth Reddy claimed.

The wait for KTR at Gun Park eventually turned into a dharna with Congress workers raising slogans against the TRS government and demanding action against the drug mafia.

Addressing the dharna, Revanth Reddy complimented Vishweshwar Reddy for accepting the challenge. However, KTR got angry and started levelling personal allegations, Revanth Reddy said.

Reddy alleged that Akun Sabharwal, an IPS officer who had headed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the drugs case, was transferred to shield the drug mafia and all those who were connected with it, directly and indirectly.

He claimed that the SIT investigation had led to shocking revelations, and that its report could have exposed several powerful people. And so Sabharwal was transferred to influence the investigation process, Reddy alleged. The SIT findings were also ignored by the state government, with no action was taken against those involved in such illegal activities. In addition, the SIT report was made inaccessible, even to the Central agencies who wanted to go deeper into the case to take necessary action, Reddy claimed.

When he had approached the High Court through a PIL seeking a detailed probe and action against those involved in the drug cases, the Central agencies had gone on record to say that the SIT was not sharing information and that they were not receiving the necessary information to take further action, showing that there was the involvement of some very powerful people, Reddy claimed.

He said that drug abuse in Telangana had reached alarming proportions. He claimed that some officials involved with the probe had revealed that drugs were being supplied to several pubs across the state, especially in Hyderabad. The previous Congress government had permitted only six pubs, and all in 5-star hotels. However, the TRS goverment had permitted 60 pubs in the last seven years. And most of the pubs were being owned and operated by the kin of ministers and ruling party leaders, he said.

He lamented that drugs were being supplied even to educational institutions, and even 13-14-year-old children were getting addicted to them.

Reddy claimed that this rampant rise in drug abuse was responsible for the increase in crime rate, especially in Hyderabad. He said that the accused in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Singareni Colony recently had committed the heinous and brutal crime under the influence of drugs. He said that KTR himself had taken up the responsibility of the development of Saidabad and its surrounding areas, but failed to stop the sale of drugs and ganja in the area, which consequently resulted in the rape and murder of an innocent minor girl.

Since the drug menace was an immediate threat to the entire society and the future generations, Reddy said that he had approached the court again seeking action against the drug mafia. When he again pointed out that the SIT was not sharing information with the Central agencies about their findings, KTR had tried to dilute the issue by raising irrelevant questions.

Therefore, he said that he had posed the White Challenge to KTR and to Vishweshwar Reddy.

"I thought that KTR would reach Gun Park at least half-an-hour before my arrival, but he remained elusive for reasons known only to him," he said.

Revanth Reddy also ridiculed KTR for asking questions about his ancestors. Stating that he was ready for a separate debate on his and KTR's ancestors at any time, he asked KTR to first explain why he was afraid of undergoing a drug test. He said that he was not asking for KTR's assets, just blood samples required for the test.

The TPCC chief said that the White Challenge initiative could bring about a positive change in society and awareness against drug abuse. All public representatives, including KTR, must accept the challenge and tell the society that they neither consumed drugs nor supported their circulation. This would send a strong message against drug abuse across the country, Reddy said.

Speaking on the occasion, Vishweshwar Reddy said that KTR should have accepted the White Challenge instead of making it an ego issue. He said that a drug-free society was essential to prevent the rising crime rate, and added that it should be made mandatory for every candidate to undergo drug tests to contest any election. He then gave the White Challenge to BJP state president Bandi Sanjay and BSP leader R S Praveen Kumar.

Addressing the dharna, former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir called KTR a "bhagoda", who ran away from a simple challenge of undergoing a medical test to check whether or not he consumed drugs. He said that he was ready for the White Challenge, at any point and asked all politicians to exhibit their resolve against drug abuse.

Other senior leaders also addressed the dharna which witnessed a huge participation of Congress workers.