Hyderabad hosted its first electric car race on 11 February 2023. (Commons)
Is the Telangana government contemplating prosecuting BRS working president KT Rama Rao for his alleged role in the Formula E Race case? Or is it playing a psychological game to counter his incessant targeting of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy?
Speculation is rife that the state government has sought the Governor’s nod for prosecuting KTR — as the BRS leader is popularly known. The Anti-Corruption Bureau is understood to have written to the government, seeking its approval to prosecute the former minister. The ACB has been probing a complaint by the Municipal Administration Department, which alleged financial irregularities in releasing money for the event.
The Revanth Reddy government seems to have sought the gubernatorial nod to avoid the lapses of the former YSRCP dispensation in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. The then government had failed to get the governor’s approval for arresting N Chandrababu Naidu in the multi-crore skill development scam and struggled to build a case in the court against the present chief minister.
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The case
The case is related to alleged financial irregularities in funding one of the four seasons of the Formula E races in Hyderabad. To conduct 9,10,11,12 seasons of the Formula E Race, the Municipal Administration department under the former BRS government signed a tripartite agreement with Formula E Organisers (FEO) and Ace Nxt Gen Pvt limited in 2022. The ninth season of the car race was held in Hyderabad on 10 and 11 February 2023.
The promoter, Ace Nxt Gen, who was supposed to finance four seasons of the Formula E Race, dropped out unilaterally in the second season, citing losses in the first season. As the FEO was willing to organise the second season, the then principal secretary of the Municipal Administration Department Arvind Kumar, on the advice of the then Municipal Minister KT Rama Rao, transferred to FEO ₹55 crore, including ₹9 crore as taxes.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) then transferred the amount after dropping Ace Next Gen as the promoter. The government later included HMDA as the promoter.
The HMDA then entered into an MoU with FEO on 30 October 2023 which is considered other irregularity. The other irregularities alleged included making payment of one tranche of money to FEO after the issue of the schedule for Assembly elections in Telangana without obtaining permission from the Election Commission and making payment to FEO in pounds without obtaining clearance from the RBI.
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Revanth keeps his arsenal ready
In a recent media interaction, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy said the ACB was inquiring into a complaint by the Municipal Administration Department. According to sources, the ACB has also written to the state government for clearance to prosecute KTR, and the government, in turn, sought the governor’s permission.
The chief minister is understood to have sought the governor’s permission when he met him at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, 6 November. A Congress source said that the chief minister may have taken clearance from party top leader Rahul Gandhi when he visited Hyderabad on 5 November and then broached the issue with the governor the following day.
The chief minister had a one-on-one session with Gandhi during the latter’s visit to take part in a workshop organised to sensitize the party cadres on the caste census.
Sources said the chief minister has been keeping his arsenal ready though it was not known if he would use the weapon or keep it as a deterrent. He knows any action against KTR might whip up sympathy for him as in the case of Naidu in Andhra Pradesh.
Revanth Reddy has been insisting that he would not resort to political vendetta against anyone but he reiterated that if anyone had committed anything wrong, the law would take its course. Even in the case of KTR, Revanth Reddy said that he was not bothered whether he was guilty or not in the Formula E Race case and said if he was found guilty, he would have to face action, indicating that he might or might not move against the BRS leader.
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Rama Rao unperturbed
The BRS leader however appeared undaunted. Reacting to reports that the government had sought the governor’s permission to prosecute him, the former BRS minister said that after the Ace Nxt Gen dropped out, he had asked the Municipal Administration Department to fill in for the promoter company till such time the FEO found a new promoter.
“We spent ₹crore to organise the event on behalf of the state government,” he said, adding that he was not scared of the ACB prosecuting him. “I will do yoga in jail for two months and come out slim and fit,” he said.
The former minister said he had advised the then special chief secretary, MAUD, Arvind Kumar, to pay the amount to FEO to prevent Hyderabad’s brand image from taking a hit. He said the Congress government scrapped the project, suspecting that he was a beneficiary of the project which was baseless.
It was a shame that Formula E Races had been scrapped. Had it been held, Hyderabad would have got a benefit of ₹700 crore. “We wanted to use the Formula E races to promote electric vehicles. The first season had made Amara Raja and Hyundai invest in Telangana,” he said.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
