Congress MP Issues Defamation Notice to KTR

Hyderabad: Congress MP Manickam Tagore has sent a defamation notice to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao for his allegation that Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy gave him a bribe of Rs 50 crores to bag the post of the state Congress chief.

Tagore took to ‘X’ on Wednesday to reveal that a notice has been served on KTR to tender an unconditional apology in writing within seven days failing which appropriate legal action will be taken against him for defamation.

“A defamation notice has been sent to Koduku. Perhaps he’s too engrossed in his farmhouse entertainments to bother with a reply. If he doesn’t respond in 7 days, it’s off to court we go!” he posted while calling KTR ‘Koduku’ (son).

Tagore had earlier posted that ‘Koduku of Chandrasekhar’ will be sent a defamation notice, requiring him to appear in Madurai Court alongside Kaushik and Sudhir.

The Congress leader was referring to BRS MLAs P. Kaushik Reddy and D. Sudheer Reddy, who recently appeared in Madurai Court after Tagore filed defamation case against them for making the same allegation.

During a meeting in Sircilla on January 28, KTR had made the allegation that Revanth Reddy bribed Tagore to become the president of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC).

Tagore was AICC in-charge for Telangana in 2021 when Revanth Reddy was appointed as TPCC chief.

Meanwhile, Tagore’s post on ‘X’ triggered a war of words between him and KTR with the BRS leader daring him to send notice to Telangana minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, saying he was the one who had made the allegation.

“Manickam Garu, Why are you in a confused mode and misdirecting these notices? It was your colleague Congressman & MP Venkat Reddy who had alleged on record that Revanth Reddy bribed you and bought the PCC president post for Rs 50 crore. I had merely quoted the same since it was reported widely in media. Neither did Venkat Reddy withdraw the allegation nor did he offer an explanation till date. Suggest that you redirect the defamation notice to the right address of Mr. Venkat Reddy who now sits in Telangana secretariat,” KTR said.

Another post from the handle KTR News reads, “If you have any guts or shame, first send a defamation notice to your own colleague Komatireddy. Else stop this stunt trying to coat yourself like you’re some fearless leader. If you can’t even question your own colleague, you are a sheep wearing the paint of a lion. Courts will obviously pull you up for your sheepish act. Be ready.”

Responding to this, Tagore asked KTR not to try to divert a closed case. “You only made allegations about me, no other names in the video. So, you can’t run away from facing the benches of the Madurai court. Your arrogance won’t help. Your paid social media team can only attack in tweet,” the Congress leader wrote.

“You have to face the court for blaming an innocent person. Never again should you do this to any honest individual. You were born with silver spoons, and you must understand that I am a teacher’s son, fighting for my respect until the end,” he added.