'Naidu's involvement in cash-for-vote scam only tip of the iceberg'

KCR says NDA govt will not support him on this issue.

By P.s. Jayaram

Published: Fri 12 Jun 2015, 8:56 PM

Last updated: Wed 8 Jul 2015, 2:56 PM

Hyderabad: Even as the beleaguered Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu turned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bail him out of the political quagmire he is caught in following the cash for vote scam, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao stepped up pressure claiming that his counterpart’s alleged involvement in the scandal was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Spreading lies in New Delhi is not going to help Naidu. The NDA government will not support a thief like him who tried to bribe legislators to win a seat in the Telangana Legislative Council elections recently,” KCR, as the chief minister is known, said countering all the issues raised by Naidu in the national capital.

Referring to Naidu’s comments in an interview to a television channel that it would be the end of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government if he were arrested, KCR said: “What authority does Naidu have to make such remarks against a democratically-elected government in Telangana? It smacks of arrogance and high-handedness typical of Naidu.”

“The audio tapes which were broadcast with Naidu’s voice are the tip of the iceberg. The Andhra CM is involved in several other unethical acts which will come out soon,” he said, adding that as the head of government, he gets inputs from various investigation agencies up to a certain level. “I have no role to play in this. The agencies which are enquiring into these issues will present all these details after thorough investigation,” he said.

Claiming that Naidu had almost bought two Congress MLAs, KCR said it was he who alerted the opposition party which took steps to ensure that the Telugu Desam Party does not poach on their legislators.

KCR, pooh-poohing Naidu’s allegations that telephones of AP ministers and leaders were being tapped by the Telangana government, wondered why he did not take action if he was aware that 120-odd telephones were being tapped. “What were the AP agencies doing till TDP legislator Revanth Reddy was caught red-handed on May 31 while offering Rs 5 million to nominated legislator Elvis Stephenson as bribe to vote in favour of the TDP?” he asked.

On Naidu’s demand that Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act empowering the Governor to oversee law and order in the common capital should be implemented in toto, KCR said: “Naidu is just a guest CM in Hyderabad. The CM’s post and the post of AP DGP are territorial posts. Hyderabad city is just a temporary accommodation till a full-time capital comes up in the neighboring state. The inquiry by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is in on and everything will come out soon.”

Meanwhile, Naidu told the media after his meeting with the Prime Minister and other Union Ministers that he had laid down the cards on the table and it was up to the Centre to now respond. “I have explained everything to the Centre and sought its immediate intervention on the issue. It is the duty of the Centre to intervene whenever there is a crisis between two states, and I am expecting a positive response,” he said, adding: “I am not an ordinary citizen of Hyderabad. I am the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and have full powers over Hyderabad.”

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