Minister Srinivas Goud demands that Kishan Reddy apologise to MLC K Kavitha for false allegations

Minister Srinivas Goud said the BJP leaders allowed criminals who looted people to flee from India, but were harassing Opposition parties with trivial cases due to political vendetta

Hyderabad: Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud on Tuesday demanded that union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy tender an unconditional apology to BRS MLC K Kavitha for peddling blatant lies on the destruction of her phones and making false allegations against her. He said the BJP leaders allowed criminals who looted people to flee from India, but were harassing Opposition parties with trivial cases due to political vendetta.

Kavitha, whose statement is being recorded by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has produced all the cell phones she used in the past, as asked by the ED.

---

Addressing mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi, the Minister accused BJP leaders of targetting, harassing and carrying out vindictive politics against a woman. He played a video clipping of Kishan Reddy alleging that Kavitha had destroyed her phones to escape from the Delhi excise policy case.

“Now that Kavitha has displayed all her phones before entering the ED office and submitted them to the investigators, how will Kishan Reddy justify his accusations? Everyday, they say that they respect women. But they are trying to tarnish the reputation of Kavitha, a woman, with false allegations,” he said.

Srinivas Goud reminded that Kavitha has been repeatedly stating that she had no connection with the Delhi excise policy case and she had all the phones with her which were produced before the ED officials on Tuesday. “On what basis did Kishan Reddy claim that Kavitha destroyed her phones in November 2022 itself? Can he divulge the evidence now in support of his claims?” he demanded to know, pointing out that the BJP leaders began the misinformation campaign long before she was served a notice in the case.

“How was that possible? Why didn’t the ED summon Kavitha then itself if it knew of the MLC destroying evidence in November 2022?” he asked.

The Minister also sought to expose the hypocrisy of the BJP-led NDA government in targeting political rivals with trivial cases, while trying to shield several economic offenders who fled the country after cheating banks of lakhs of crores of rupees. “What happened to your own Neerav Modi, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya and (Mehul) Choksi? They all are roaming freely abroad after looting the people’s money and now, the BJP is making attempts to rid them of legal troubles and eventually facilitate their entry back in India,” he said.