TSR threatens to slap defamation suit on Purandeswari's husband

VISAKHAPATNAM: The slugfest between Union minister of state for commerce and industry D Purandeswari and Rajya Sabha MP T Subbarami Reddy over the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat took yet another farcical twist with the latter threatening to slap a Rs 5 crore defamation suit on the Union minister's husband and Congress MLA from Paruchuru, Daggubati Venkateswara Rao, for levelling false allegations against him.
Countering the allegations made by Rao at Wednesday's media conference in Hyderabad, Subbarami Reddy called a press meet on Thursday to say that he would file civil and criminal charges against the sitting Vizag MP's husband and send him legal notices in a couple of days.
Launching a tirade against the Congress MLA, he said: "He has lost his mind and is behaving like a mentally deranged person. He thinks he is an intellectual but everyone in the state knows he is nothing but a jumping jack. He was thrown out of the TDP, after which he joined BJP and then shifted to Congress," TSR said.
TSR, who is eyeing the Congress ticket for the Vizag LS seat for the 2014 general elections, also expressed a cocky confidence that he would be Congress' chosen candidate as the party high command would allot the seat to a winning horse like him. He also pointed out that he had been sailing with the Congress for the past 25 years, while Purandeswari and her husband's association with the party was just nine years old. "What's wrong in trying to get a ticket for Vizag? Seeking the seat is not a crime. I have relations with the people of Vizag for 32 years as compared to their four-year-old association," he said.
Taking a moral high ground, he said, "Neither politics nor posts are permanent. Leaders should maintain decorum and not defame others. I have never uttered a single word against Purandeswari or her husband. Many leaders in the Congress party in Vizag have complained about Venkateswara Rao's illegal land dealings here. I strictly told them I would not encourage such talk or spare them if they carry out such propaganda."
Reacting to Rao's allegations on the cement scam, TSR said he was not connected to it and one of the watchmen at the Nagarjuna Sagar dam site was the actual culprit who illegally transported 80 cement bags worth Rs 4000. "The court had given me a clean chit in that incident. Why did the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi give me a gold medal in appreciation of my work if I am a fraudster?" he asked.
Reacting to TSR's onslaught, Rao made light of his threat. "The defamation suit that he is threatening to file should have been of more than Rs 5 crore as it is not even equal to the tax he is said to have evaded paying the GVMC," Rao said.
"I have waited for long for him to stop the campaign for the Vizag seat. Who should be the Congress candidate from Vizag is a decision that has to be ultimately taken by the party high command. It is absurd for him to say that Purandeswari and I approached him for a recommendation for the Narsaraopet Lok Sabha seat. I came out to speak on the issue because we want an end to the slander campaign," Rao added.
On TSR's threat to complain to the party high command against the charges he had levelled against TSR, Rao said: "We would be more than happy if he does so as the party would come to know about his background and seek an explanation from him."