Congress fielding dummy candidates to mislead Jubilee Hills voters: Harish Rao

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress of using dummy independent candidates with symbols resembling the party’s Car to confuse voters in the Jubilee Hills bypoll. He also alleged corruption in liquor licences and demanded a probe into the Deccan Cements gun threat case.

Hyderabad: After the recent fake voters scandal, the Jubilee Hills by-election has taken another contentious turn, with the BRS alleging that the ruling Congress is attempting to manipulate the poll outcome by fielding dummy independent candidates with symbols resembling the BRS party’s Car. The BRS leaders said the move was aimed at confusing voters, particularly senior citizens.

Former Minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of resorting to unethical tactics by deploying independent candidates with symbols resembling the BRS party’s Car to split its vote share. He said symbols such as the Road Roller, Chapati Roller, and Soap Dispenser were deliberately allotted to independents to mislead the electorate. He urged voters to stay vigilant and clarified that the official BRS Car symbol appears third from the top on the ballot paper.

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Speaking at the Rajaka Sangam meeting held at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao termed the Congress government as one built on deceit and diversion. He said the six guarantees promised by the Congress before the Assembly elections had turned out to be empty promises, with none implemented even after 100 days in power.

Accusing the government of large-scale corruption, he said over Rs.3,000 crore had been collected through liquor licence applications and alleged that the money was being diverted to the Chief Minister’s Delhi bosses instead of being utilised for welfare schemes.

The senior BRS legislator reiterated that the State Cabinet was functioning like a Dandupalyam gang, focused on sharing commissions rather than governance. Referring to the recent Deccan Cements gun threat case, he pointed out that while Minister Konda Surekha’s daughter alleged that the Chief Minister’s aide brought the gun, the police claimed it was the Minister’s OSD. “Both admitted that a company representative was threatened at gunpoint, but none is willing to speak about it,” he said, demanding a CBI or judicial inquiry into the incident.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Shinde Dixit from Mudhole joined the BRS in the presence of Harish Rao at Telangana Bhavan. Harish Rao welcomed him into the party, declaring that the BRS would intensify its fight against what he called the corrupt and incompetent Congress regime.