Former Andhra Pradesh Speaker Kodela Siva Prasada Rao on Tuesday admitted that he 'shifted' expensive furniture from the premises of the old state Assembly building in Hyderabad, to his residence-cum-office in Sattenapalli in Guntur district.
The senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader's 'confession' came after it was reported earlier this week that some items, including furniture and computers had gone missing when the assets of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were bifurcated.
Following this, state Assembly Secretary had filed a complaint with the Guntur police, alleging that Kodela had shifted the furniture in an unauthorized manner. The Secretary claimed that he had even sent a notice to Kodela, who did not respond to the official letter.
Justifying this, Kodela told reporters, "If we would have left the furniture at the Speaker's chamber in Hyderabad, maintenance may have been a problem. They may not even have been secure. Due to this, I shifted the furniture to my camp office in Sattenapalli."
"As there was elections in the state and many things after that, I had gotten busy. I got a letter from the Assembly Secretary asking about the furniture and computers. I replied, stating that I would send the electronic items and furniture back and if needed I'm even willing to pay the price of the items, as we have used them," he added.
The latest row comes a few months after Kodela, his son, and his daughter were booked by the Sattenapalli and Narsaraopet police for cheating, intimidation and extortion.
The YSRCP had latched on to the issue at the time, alleging that Kodela and his family members ran a 'mafia' in the region in Guntur district and would extort money from locals, dubbing it ‘K-tax’.
Kodela was also in the news on April 11, when Andhra Pradesh went to polls. The senior TDP leader and his gunman were allegedly heckled by YSRCP cadres at the polling booth of Inumetla in Sattenapalli constituency. While he alleged that YSRCP men attacked him, the Opposition accused him of trying to capture the booth.