Telangana Governor Tamilisai accuses KCR govt of tapping her phones

In an open face-off with the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday expressed suspicion that her phones are being tapped.

Soundararajan, who addressed a press conference in Hyderbad, alleged that there were some social media posts by the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti linking Raj Bhavan with the recent "TRS MLAs poaching case".

"I suspect (that) my phones are tapped. Undemocratic situation is there in the state, particularly in respecting the governor. I want to clarify all those things," she said, asserting that her office functioned transparently.

Observing that it was wrongly projected that she was sitting on some Bills, the Governor clarified that there was no delay in approving it and that she wanted to go through the draft laws thoroughly.

Referring to the reported comments of Education Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy that the Governor was misleading people and that no letter seeking clarifications on certain issues was received from Raj Bhavan,

Soundararajan said the letter was sent to the Chief Minister's Office and expressed surprise over the delay in the letter reaching the minister.

"Before meeting the press, she (Reddy) should have verified whether Raj Bhavan has written a letter. Without verifying, they want to degrade the pride of this office. So, I wanted to convey this to the press and the people of Telangana," Soundararajan said.

The government spoke about protocols, she said and asked as to what action has been taken on officials over violating such protocols during her visits to several districts.

Referring to reports of some students' unions planning to organise a protest outside Raj Bhavan, she said the doors of the governor's house are open unlike 'Pragati Bhavan' (the Chief Minister's camp office-cum-official residence).

The students of several institutions had met her to express their grievances and who motivated these students' unions concerned to agitate when they were not prevented from meeting her, she said.

Relations between Raj Bhavan and the TRS government have not been on the best of terms for quite some time now and Soundararajan had earlier complained of protocol not being followed during her visits to the districts.