"He Understands Situations...": BRS Defends KTR In IAS Officer Comment Row

Telangana's Bharat Rashtra Samithi has defended senior party leader KT Rama Rao in the row over his "unwarranted" comment about a Sircilla district official during a recent public meeting.

The BRS has said Mr Rama Rao, or KTR as he is called, "made the comments with concrete proof" and that he is a former cabinet member - he served as the Information Technology, Electronics, and Commerce Minister from 2014 to 2023 - who "understands situations".

The row broke after KTR lashed out at District Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha for allegedly asking BRS workers to join the ruling Congress. KTR accused Mr Jha of acting like an agent of his rival.

The Telangana IAS Officers Association has taken a dim view of the outburst and demanded an apology from KTR, who is also the son of ex-Chief Minister and party boss K Chandrashekar Rao.

In a resolution shared online, the officers' body has said it "feels compelled to express our deep concern and strong condemnation regarding the recent derogatory statement" by KTR, who is also the MLA serving the Sircilla Assembly seat.

"In an unfortunate public remark, the Collector was personally targeted... we demand such statements are retracted and an apology is offered," the officers' body declared.

KTR has been in several spats with the Congress since his party slipped from power after losing the November 2023 election to that party; in fact, the BRS, in power since the state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, was beaten decisively, winning only 39 of 119 seats.

Earlier this month he threw down an "arrest me if you dare" challenge to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. This was after he was named in a police case linked to violence in Vikarabad district.

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Days later he also challenged Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in connection with that violence.

"You (Mr Gandhi) speak of Dalits and tribals... but the women of Telangana are seeking your help. You aren't there. What use is this lip service?" he said in an exclusive interview to NDTV.

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Mr Rama Rao has accused the Congress of colluding with the BJP in the state, describing their relationship as a "strange love story". The entire range of verbal sparring between the BRS leader and the Congress also includes the former referring to Revanth Reddy as the "Cheap Minister" and the latter mocking his rival for daydreaming that, one day, he will return to power.

With input from agencies

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