Allegations by Telangana Congress leaders that senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and former minister T. Harish Rao performed occult rituals for political gain have triggered a major controversy in the state.
The BRS has categorically rejected the accusations, while Harish Rao has issued legal notices to the Congress leaders, describing the claims as baseless and defamatory.
The controversy began after two Congress leaders alleged that Harish Rao had visited temples in Karnataka’s Shivamogga and Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli to perform occult rituals aimed at causing drought in Telangana and creating public resentment against the Congress government.
Harish Rao strongly denied the allegations, calling them “absurd” and warning that he would initiate legal proceedings unless the Congress leaders apologised.
However, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Bomma Mahesh Kumar Goud also joined the controversy and publicly repeated the allegations in the presence of senior Congress leader T. Jagga Reddy.
The TPCC chief claimed that the Congress possessed evidence relating to Harish Rao’s travel and activities and was prepared to substantiate its allegations.
According to the Congress, Harish Rao visited Tiruchirappalli on March 2 and Shivamogga on May 31, June 1 and July 23. While acknowledging that visiting temples was not unusual, the party claimed it had information suggesting that specific rituals were performed at locations other than the prominent temples.
The BRS responded by pointing out that Shivamogga is home to an important Hindu religious centre associated with Adi Shankaracharya and dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. Party leaders argued that temple visits should not be misinterpreted as participation in occult practices.
Congress leaders also questioned why there were no photographs or social media posts documenting Harish Rao’s alleged temple visits, despite the BRS routinely publicising his political activities. They claimed that the absence of publicity raised further questions.
The TPCC president said the party would not be intimidated by legal notices. He further alleged that occult and tantric rituals had been part of the BRS’s political culture since its inception.
He also claimed that earlier reports of such rituals being conducted at former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s farmhouse, which he had initially dismissed, now appeared more credible in light of the allegations against Harish Rao.
The BRS has rejected all the allegations and challenged the Congress to produce concrete evidence.
