Telangana Election 2023: IT officials raid Congress candidate Srinivas Reddy's residences, offices

The Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (November 9) carried out extensive raids at the residences and offices of Congress candidate Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy in Hyderabad and Khammam. Srinivas Reddy is contesting from the Palair constituency in Khammam district.

The search operation commenced at his residence in Khammam as early as 3 am, coinciding with Srinivas Reddy's scheduled nomination paper filing. It's worth noting that Srinivas Reddy recently switched allegiance from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the Congress.

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Outside his residence in Khammam, a group of Reddy's supporters gathered in protest, vociferously expressing their displeasure at the ongoing raids.

Just the day before, Srinivas Reddy had anticipated such actions from Central agencies like the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate. He voiced his concerns about the agencies intensively targeting Congress leaders in recent days.

Accusing collusion between the BRS government in Telangana and the BJP, he alleged that these actions constituted "attacks" on Congress party leaders. He urged his followers not to engage in any activities that might invite further scrutiny from these Central agencies, expressing concerns about potential consequences for him and his companies.

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In a related development, last week, officials from the Income Tax department had conducted searches at the residences of K Laxma Reddy, Congress candidate for the Maheshwaram assembly segment, and Badangpet Municipal Corporation Mayor Chigurintha Parijata Narasimha Reddy.