Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao on Monday alleged that several leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) faced serious accusations, including rape, harassment and assaults on minors, during the party’s tenure in government. He also claimed that some names had surfaced in cases involving the drugging and kidnapping of young women.

Questioning the BRS’s current stance, Mr. Rao asked, “What moral right does the BRS have to speak about women’s rights and the safety of minors today? Did former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao resign when those incidents occurred? Did working president K.T. Rama Rao take responsibility?”

Addressing party leaders at the BJP state office, he said it was ‘absurd’ for BRS leaders to lecture others on morality when crimes against women had risen sharply under their regime. Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Mr. Rao, a senior advocate, said the number of crimes registered against women in Telangana increased from 14,147 in 2014 to 23,679 in 2023 — an increase of nearly 67%. “The BRS leadership must answer for this,” he said.

The BJP leader further alleged that BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had been spearheading a ‘coordinated and malicious campaign’ against the BJP. Crores of rupees were being spent on posters, social media outreach and ‘favourable media coverage’ to defame the party, particularly in connection with the POCSO case involving Bandi Sai Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

“If anyone commits a mistake, action under the law is inevitable. If Mr. Sanjay Kumar has done anything wrong, the party will act. If any of his family members are involved in wrongdoing, the law will take its course and the courts will decide,” Mr. Rao said.

Seeking anticipatory bail is a legal right available to any citizen, he said and pointed out that BRS leaders themselves approached courts when investigations into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project began. Mr. Rao accused BRS leaders of resorting to personal attacks out of ‘sheer panic’, alleging that they fear being implicated in ongoing probes into alleged scams, including the Formula-E race case.

Earlier, the party chief strongly ‘condemned’ the ‘harassment’ of ‘Gau Rakshaks’ and voluntary ‘Gau Sevaks’ by the police in view of Bakrid. Following the Attapur incident, the police, acting under pressure from the Majlis Party, are filing false cases. Instead of maintaining law and order in a fair and balanced manner, the police appear to be targeting those working to protect cow sentiments. The government and police must ensure that no illegal activities take place and that the sentiments of Hindus are not hurt, he added.