HYDERABAD — Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president K.T. Rama Rao on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Telangana government, demanding the immediate dismissal of Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy over what he described as a brazen family scam — and accusing Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of deliberately protecting the minister despite acknowledging wrongdoing.
Speaking in his characteristically sharp and combative style, KTR — as the BRS leader is widely known — pulled no punches in his assault on the ruling Congress government, raising questions that he said demand urgent answers from the Chief Minister.
"CM Admitted Wrongdoing — But Still Won't Act"
KTR alleged that the exposure of Minister Ponguleti's family scam has left the Telangana government rattled and desperate. What makes the situation even more damning, he argued, is the Chief Minister's own admission.
"The Chief Minister himself has acknowledged that irregularities have taken place," KTR said. "Yet no legal action has been initiated. One must ask — is the Chief Minister protecting the minister because he too has a share in this corruption?"
It was a pointed and provocative question — one that the BRS leader clearly intended to land with maximum political force.
At the center of the controversy is Raghava Constructions — a company of which KTR claims Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy served as chairman between 2020 and 2022. The Chief Minister, KTR alleged, has attempted to distance the minister from the company by claiming it belongs to Ponguleti's distant relatives — a claim KTR dismissed as a transparent cover-up.
"The facts are clear," KTR said. "Ponguleti was the chairman of Raghava Constructions. The attempt to pass it off as belonging to distant relatives fools nobody."
Two and a Half Years of Failure
KTR broadened his attack beyond the immediate controversy, using the platform to deliver a comprehensive indictment of what he called the Congress government's two and a half years of governance failure.
"In two and a half years, the Chief Minister has not done a single thing that has benefited the people of Telangana," KTR charged. "Not one. And yet a minister accused of corruption continues to sit in his chair, his family protected, his wrongdoing unpunished."
He demanded pointed answers from the Chief Minister — why has action not been taken against the minister? Why is the minister's family being shielded? What message does this send to the people of Telangana?
Mining Scandals and Political Connections
KTR did not limit his allegations to the Ponguleti family controversy. He widened the scope of his attack to include what he described as widespread irregularities in the mining sector across Telangana.
Most explosive among his allegations was the claim that Bhagyalakshmi Mining in Kokapet — a prominent location in Hyderabad — belongs to relatives of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy himself. The allegation, if proven, would represent a significant conflict of interest at the highest levels of the state government.
"Mining has become a cover for large-scale illegality across this state," KTR alleged. "And the connections lead all the way to the Chief Minister's own family."
The L&T Land Controversy
KTR also trained his fire on what he described as a dangerous conspiracy surrounding 280 acres of land leased by the previous BRS government to engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro.
He alleged that what he called the "Danduppalya batch" — a reference he used to describe a group within the ruling establishment — is plotting to illegally seize this land. More alarmingly, KTR claimed that the Chief Financial Officer of L&T had been threatened with imprisonment in an attempt to intimidate the company.
"This is a massive scandal," KTR said, his voice rising with controlled fury. "Threatening the CFO of one of India's most respected companies with jail — what kind of government does this? What kind of governance is this?"
He described the entire episode as a "large-scale conspiracy" that strikes at the heart of investor confidence in Telangana.
"We Will Go to the Governor"
KTR made clear that the BRS is not prepared to let these issues rest — and issued a direct warning to the Telangana government.
If the government fails to act on the allegations and continues to ignore the opposition's demands, he said, the BRS will escalate the matter to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and lodge a formal complaint seeking intervention.
"We will go to the Governor if this government refuses to listen," KTR declared. "These are not small matters. These are issues of governance, of corruption, of public money being plundered — and someone must be held accountable."
One Non-Negotiable Demand
Amid the cascade of allegations and accusations, KTR's central demand was unambiguous and unconditional.
Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy must be removed from office. Immediately. Without further delay or excuses.
"This is not a request. This is a demand from the people of Telangana," KTR said. "A minister whose family is neck-deep in scandal, whose wrongdoing has been acknowledged by the Chief Minister himself, has no moral or legal right to continue in office. He must go."
The Political Context
Saturday's press conference marks an escalation in BRS's increasingly aggressive opposition campaign against the Telangana Congress government. With assembly elections still years away, the party — which governed Telangana for a decade before its shock defeat in 2023 — appears determined to position itself as the primary watchdog against what it characterises as runaway corruption under the Revanth Reddy administration.
KTR, who has increasingly taken on the role of the party's most combative public voice, has sharpened his rhetoric in recent months — targeting the Chief Minister personally and with growing frequency.
The Congress government has not yet formally responded to Saturday's allegations. Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy's office was not immediately available for comment.
But with KTR threatening to take the matter to the Governor and vowing to keep the pressure on, the political temperature in Hyderabad shows no sign of cooling any time soon.
BRS working president KTR's allegations have not been independently verified. The Telangana government and Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy's office had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
