The elections for Telangana Legislative Council from the Assembly, on Monday, took an ugly turn on Sunday evening with sleuths and officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau arresting Telugu Desam MLA A. Revanth Reddy, on the charges of trying to bribe a nominated candidate representing the Anglo-Indian community, Elvis Stephenson.
Drama and a lot of chaos followed when the arrest took place after a concealed video recording of the conversation apparently between Reddy and Stephenson at the house of the latter’s son at Lallaguda. Reddy was later shifted to the ACB headquarters at Banjara Hills, where his statement was recorded before he was taken to a Magistrate. TDP leaders and workers rushed to the ACB office and staged a sit-in till late night.
ACB Director General A.K. Khan told journalists later that a trap was laid for Reddy. on the basis of a written complaint by Stephenson after two days of negotiations between them. The MLA was booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code. The crime was cognizable and non-bailable.
The TDP MLA countered the ACB claim and said a sting operation was carried out on him to fix him in a false case at the instance of Chief Minister and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao. He vowed to take up a struggle to dethrone Rao. The arrest of the legislator was another big jolt for the TDP after its Kukatpally MLA Madhavaram Krishna Rao joined the TRS on Saturday.
