Times of India: Hyderabad:
Monday, March 31, 2014.
Nearly 25
years ago, a young man walked into a police station in Nellore along with his
supporters and vandalized government property. A case was registered against
the man, who later went on to become a Member of Parliament. Since then, the
case has been gathering dust and the man, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, has gone on
to be a three-term MP who is gearing up again for an electoral battle as the
YSR Congress candidate from the Nellore Lok Sabha constituency.
Despite the
passage of 25 years, the law has not caught up with Rajamohan Reddy,
facilitating his repeated electoral forays since 1989, when the incident
allegedly happened. However, Rajamohan Reddy's case is not an isolated one.
Several sitting MLAs and MPs, who have been involved in criminal cases, have
been treated with kids' gloves.
In fact,
several top leaders who are now star campaigners and electoral contenders of
their parties are facing serious charges, which if proved, could land them in
jail or death row. Take for instance, TV Rama Rao, Telugu Desam Party's Kovvur
MLA, who was accused of raping and killing a nursing student. Five years since
the incident, the case is pending in court.
Similarly,
TDP's Gurajala MLA Y Sreenivasa Rao, Kadiri MLA K Venkat Prasad and
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) floor leader Abkaruddin Owaisi are facing
murder charges. The case against Venkat Prasad was registered way back in 2006,
but it is still pending trial. Several politicians have been booked for
rioting, assault and more, but are walking free as the cases were either
declared as pending trial or under investigation.
In all, 54
incumbent MLAs and eight MPs from the state are facing charges of various
nature. All of them are in the fray for the 2014 elections. Some of the
prominent faces with skeletons in their closet include Konidela Shiva Shankar
Vara Prasad alias Chiranjeevi, a Rajya Sabha member and till recently the Union
minister of state for tourism. According to the police, Chiranjeevi, the
Congress star campaigner in Seemandhra, entered police records almost five
years ago for conducting two road shows without permission in Nandyala and
Baudi Atmakur.
Of the Lok
Sabha members, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has 17
cases to his credit, only to be followed by MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi with
10 cases. The information accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act
shows that though the MIM has only a handful of MLAs (7), they are involved in
39 cases among them. The Congress party, which secured 156 seats in the 2009
hustings, has 40 cases pending against its MLAs. Similarly, TDP candidates are
facing 83 cases and TRS 57 cases.
"Recently,
the Election Commission moved a proposal to bar the candidates who are facing
charges which attract more than three years punishment, from contesting the
election. However, there was severe resistance from political parties. But that
proposal has to be accepted by the government. The cases are just kept pending
either for trial or for investigation," M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary,
Forum For Good Governance told TOI.
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