Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders plan to meet Governor Jishnu Dev Varma to discuss alleged phone tapping in Telangana. They accuse Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of tapping BRS leaders’ phones with the help of the central BJP leadership. The allegations extend to tapping his own cabinet members’ phones.
At a press conference in Telangana Bhavan, BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar called for a High Court judge to investigate these claims. He said Revanth Reddy was aware of private conversations among ministers, suggesting phone tapping. Praveen Kumar noted that as both Chief Minister and Home Minister, Revanth Reddy would oversee such activities. He further alleged that the BJP at the national level assists in monitoring BRS and Congress leaders’ phones in the state, supporting Revanth Reddy’s actions.
Praveen Kumar accused the Chief Minister of scolding a journalist in New Delhi for talking to party leader T Harish Rao on the phone, questioning how Revanth Reddy knew about the call without tapping. He mentioned a phone tapping case (Panjagutta PS 243 case), highlighting that a Telugu newspaper reported it seven days before he received an official notice, indicating a leak in the investigation.
Praveen Kumar also speculated about Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah being involved in the alleged phone tapping, suggesting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi might be targeted too. The BRS requested the government to provide a sealed list of tapped phones to the High Court. They proposed forming a committee, including the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, a High Court judge, and officials, to oversee phone tapping activities under the Telegraph Act. He emphasized that Section 5 of the Telegraph Act allows phone tapping only for national security reasons.
Praveen Kumar repeated the BRS’s demand for a High Court judge-led investigation into these phone tapping allegations.
