"BCCI bribed KCR to postpone Rail Roko"

Congress MLA Jogi Ramesh on Friday alleged that Telangana Rashtra Samithi K Chandrasekhar Rao received bribe from the sponsors and some officials of the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) to postpone the 'Rail Roko' agitation from October 12 to October 15 to ensure smooth conduct of cricket match between India and England at Uppal stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

Ramesh alleged that although the Telangana Joint Action Committee announced that the Rail Roko agitation was postponed in view of Banswada by-elections, the real reason was the India-England cricket match. The organisers would have lost crores of rupees in case of cancellation of match due to the Rail Roko strike. Therefore, in order to save the match, some sponsors have bribed KCR to postpone the agitation.

The MLA asked the Telangana Joint Action Committee to explain the impact that the Rail Roko agitation would have had on the Banswada by-elections. On the other side, the TJAC has proposed the Rail Roko from October 15 which would directly affect lakhs of students participating in the Group II examinations. Therefore, he said that instead of postponing the agitation to facilitate the smooth conduct of examinations in the interest of students, KCR and other TJAC leaders have postponed the agitation for smooth conduct of cricket match.

Ramesh, who represents from Pedana constituency in Krishna district, demanded an enquiry into the issue.