Mr Rao had alleged that he was being targeted by the Congress and the BJP.
The Telangana Governor has approved a probe against BRS leader and former state minister KT Rama Rao for alleged irregularities worth Rs 55 crore in the organization of a Formula E race in Hyderabad last year, sources said on Friday.
Mr. Rao, also known as KTR, held the Industries and Municipal Administration and Urban Development portfolios, among others, under the previous government led by his father and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Chief K Chandrashekar Rao.
The anti-corruption agency had sought Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Verma's permission to investigate KTR in the Formula E case. The Bureau has alleged that Mr Rao, as Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), had given verbal instructions for transfer of Rs 55 crore to the race organizers, bypassing laid down procedures.
During the Anti-Corruption Bureau's (ACB) investigation, which was triggered by a complaint by MAUD, a senior official of the department, Arvind Kumar – who held the post of chief secretary at the time – had admitted that the instructions were given verbally. by the then minister.
Mr Rao, the MLA from Sircilla, had last month said that Hyderabad had benefited from hosting the Formula E race, which could generate a turnover of Rs 750 crore. He alleged that he was being targeted by the current Congress government led by Revanth Reddy – which ousted the BRS last year after nearly a decade in power since the formation of Telangana in 2014 – and the BJP.
'Even the fear of a prison sentence won't stop me. If the government allows the investigation, I am willing to go to jail. 'padyatra'(foot march) while I'm behind bars,' he said.
The former minister had also claimed that no cabinet approval was required for transferring the money.
