Kodela never said he spent Rs 11 Cr for assembly poll

Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao has refuted the allegations of the YSRCP that he had said that he had spent Rs 11 crore for his assembly election. Speaking to the media here on Saturday, Kodela said he never said he had spent Rs 11 crore in the elections. “I merely said importance of money has been increased in the elections”, he clarified. He further said NTR had called him and gave a ticket to contest. “I had won the election by spending Rs 30,000 in 1983. But now the importance of money has increased in the elections”, he explained. On the basis of a newsreport that Kodela had himself admitted to spending over Rs 11 crore for his election, the YSRCP petitioned to the Election Commission, complaining that the Speaker himself had admitted spending Rs 11 crore in his election. Hence he should be disqualified for violating the election norms. Kodeal also said he had not received any resignation letter from Raghurami Reddy, Mydukur YSRCP MLA.