In a significant development fraught with far-reaching political consequences, the Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has given his nod for prosecution of the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao for his alleged role in the Formula E-Race case.
The Congress government, headed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, had last month sought permission of the governor, an NDA appointee, to prosecute Rama Rao, a former minister, for his role in the alleged financial irregularities in releasing money for the Formula E-Race event that was scheduled to be held in Hyderabad when BRS was in power.
There was uncertainty over whether the Governor would give the go-ahead, given the allegations of political nexus between the BJP and BRS. The ruling Congress leaders have alleged that the two parties had a tacit understanding, a charge rubbished by them.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been probing a complaint by the Municipal Administration Department which alleged financial irregularities in releasing money for the Formula E-Race event when KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known, was the minister for Municipal Administration.
Formula E-race 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 the 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 KTR, transferred to FEO Rs 55 crore.
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 another 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.
Rahul’s green signal?
Soon after coming to power in December last year, the Congress government has been digging into the alleged omissions and commissions of the previous regime and ordering probes into some of them.
According to sources in the Congress, the Chief Minister has already obtained the go-ahead from the party leader Rahul Gandhi to go after KTR in the Formula E-race case.
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.
KTR unfazed
The BRS leader, however, remains unfazed by the allegations. The opposition leader 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.
“I have not done anything wrong. I am prepared to go to jail. I will do yoga in jail for two months and come out slim and fit,” he asserted.
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 Rs 700 crore in terms of new investments. We wanted to use the Formula E races to promote electric vehicles. The first season had prompted Amara Raja and Hyundai to invest in Telangana,” he said.
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