Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao has served legal notices on Congress leaders Addanki Dayakar and Sama Ram Mohan Reddy, seeking an unconditional public apology for making baseless and defamatory allegations made against him.The legal notices, issued through his counsel, state that Harish Rao has maintained an unblemished public and political career for several decades and allege that the Congress leaders have deliberately attempted to tarnish his reputation through a malicious campaign aimed at damaging his public image.According to the notices, the allegations were made with clear political motives and without any factual basis. The notices specifically object to the statements claiming that Harish Rao visited temples to perform occult or tantric rituals with the intention of preventing rainfall in Telangana and causing drought in the state.Harish Rao said the allegations were completely false, reckless and defamatory, and state that such remarks not only target him personally but also insult the sanctity of temples and hurt the sentiments of devotees by politicising religious practices.In the notices the BRS deputy leader said that it is a long-standing cultural and religious tradition for individuals and families to visit temples on birthdays, after fulfilling vows, or to offer prayers. “Twisting such visits into allegations of occult practices for political purposes, the notices state, reflects a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and malign both him and revered places of worship,” he said.In the notices, he contended that the Congress govt has failed to fulfil several of its electoral promises and that the defamatory campaign against him is intended to divert public attention from governance issues and target BRS leaders for questioning the government’s performance.Harish Rao asked the Congress leaders to immediately withdraw all defamatory statements and issue an unconditional public apology through the same television channels, digital platforms and other media outlets where the allegations were originally made. He also demanded immediate removal of all videos, social media posts, website content, press archives and any other digital or print material containing the allegedly defamatory statements.He said if the Congress leaders fail to issue an apology or remove the defamatory content within the stipulated period, he would initiate appropriate legal proceedings, including both civil and criminal defamation cases, and seek all remedies available under law.Ends/
