The arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is certain in the Amaravati land scam case, says YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) general secretary and Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy.
Referring to the Supreme Court setting aside the Andhra Pradesh High Court order issuing a “blanket stay” on an inquiry into the case and the alleged role of the TDP regime, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy told the media at the party headquarters here on Wednesday that “Mr. Naidu’s arrest is unavoidable.”
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said the State government and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to probe the case had sufficient evidence to prove the scam.
“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has not taken any action in the case so far only because of the case pending adjudication in the Supreme Court. Now, the Supreme Court has given permission to the State government to continue the probe,” he said.
If the TDP leaders were really innocent, why did they not face the investigation and prove it, he questioned. “Instead of doing that, they went to the High Court and brought a stay order,” he added.
“If the TDP leaders have the courage, let them face the investigation now,” Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said.
He said that the Amaravati land scam was the biggest in the country and it could be considered as a case study in the future.
“If we arrest him (Mr. Naidu), then the opposition parties will accuse us of harassing them,” he observed. He alleged that certain media houses were resorting to false propaganda against the government only to favour the TDP.
Referring to reports in a section of the media about the telephonic conversation between Mr. Naidu and actor Rajinikanth on the controversy that erupted over his remarks, the YSRCP leader said, “It is not authentic news. The actor may have been upset for being present at the TDP programme recently.”
