Telangana: I-T search at TRS Minister Malla Reddy’s residences in Hyderabad

The TRS Minister Malla Reddy's residence was searched by the Income Tax Department. The department also conducted raids on educational institutions. Malla Reddy is the second member of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's cabinet to be investigated by federal authorities

Malla Reddy (ANI; Representational purpose only)

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department searched the homes of Telangana Labour Minister and TRS leader Ch Malla Reddy and his close family members on Tuesday (November 22, 2022). According to sources close to the situation, the I-T investigators were verifying Reddy's tax records as well as the educational institutions he and his family members possess. Raids were also conducted at educational institutions. Malla Reddy is the second member of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's cabinet to be searched by central government agencies. Officials from the Enforcement Directorate raided premises associated with Minister Gangula Kamalakar on November 9 as part of a money laundering investigation related to an alleged granite scam. The ED case of money laundering stems from a CBI FIR filed to investigate alleged irregularities in the state's granite trade.

Congress Minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy resigns

Marri Shashidhar Reddy, a former minister, resigned from the Congress on Tuesday, four days after the party expelled him for six years following a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The senior leader announced his resignation from the party's primary membership while criticising the state leadership. He will most likely join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Shashidhar Reddy, son of late Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, told reporters that he was leaving the party with a heavy heart and had written a letter explaining his decision to party leader Sonia Gandhi.

He is also a former vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and he has claimed that Congress has engaged in "match-fixing" with the state's ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi. He claimed that the Congress was declining in Telangana and that people no longer trusted a leader elected on a party ticket. He claimed that Congress had failed to fulfil its role as an opposition party.

Telangana | Income Tax officials conduct raids at various locations including the residence of State minister Malla Reddy in Secunderabad pic.twitter.com/H38mwWzCVM — ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2022

"The Congress party should have taken up issues on behalf of people but it is acting contrary to this," he said. The former Minister said the Congress had been losing elections since the time when Uttam Kumar Reddy was the president of the party`s state unit. He also alleged that those who have money and power are calling the shots in the party.

The Congress expelled Shashidhar Reddy on November 18 for his anti-party activities. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Disciplinary Action Committee Chairman G. Chinna Reddy issued the expulsion order and sent the same to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for ratification.

The action came after Shashidhar Reddy met the Union Home Minister in Delhi during which he was accompanied by BJP state president Bandi Sanjay and party vice-president D.K. Aruna. Shashidhar Reddy`s resignation has come as a fresh blow to the Congress in Telangana. 

(With agencies inputs)