Hyderabad: Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Friday said BRS working president KT Rama Rao should introspect on the phone tapping issue, stating that listening to conversations between individuals amounts to violation of personal freedom.Addressing the media, the TPCC president said the phone tapping case was a serious offence and that it was inappropriate to compare it with agitation-related cases. He said officials also have limitations while handling such investigations. He said there had been no explanation or rebuttal from KTR despite his own sister, K Kavitha, alleging that the phones of her and her husband were tapped during the previous govt’s tenure.
Mahesh Goud dismissed KTR’s allegation that he was being targeted in the phone tapping case, calling the claim laughable and asserting that the investigation was being conducted strictly as per the Constitution. He said that if the Congress govt had a political vendetta, action would have been taken immediately after it came to power. Referring to KTR’s comments, the TPCC chief said his words were akin to the devil quoting scriptures. “KCR’s family looted like the gang of Ali Baba and his 40 thieves. The BRS is a gang of thieves,” Mahesh Goud alleged.The TPCC chief also criticised Union minister Bandi Sanjay for his remarks and questioned why the BJP remained silent on corruption allegations linked to the Kaleshwaram project. He further asked why ED cases involving BJP leaders were pending. Goud said tapping should be carried out only against forces posing a threat to national security and alleged that he too was kept under surveillance during the previous govt tenure on the pretext that he had links with Naxalites. “Why were even the phones of film stars tapped? What was the intention behind it?” he asked.On the Kavitha episode, the TPCC president said disputes within KCR’s family were rooted in differences over “distribution of huge money” and welcomed her for speaking out. Mahesh Goud alleged that during the BRS govt tenure, about 547 phones were tapped in just three months, and claimed that even his friend’s phone was tapped.Congress leaders, including govt whip Beerla Ilaiah and MLC Addanki Dayakar, among others, criticised KTR for making baseless allegations on the issue. They said Kavitha herself had stated that phones were tapped.
