A war of words has erupted between the State government and the Opposition Telugu Desam Party over the delay in the arrival of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum summit.
Mr. Jagan, who was scheduled to arrive at Davos on May 20, arrived a day later after making an unscheduled stop over at London, as the flight reached Zurich airport after 10 p.m. local time on Friday.
Mr. Jagan reached Davos around 4 p.m. local time on Saturday after travelling by road from Zurich airport. He was received by Minister for Industries Gudivada Amarnath, Secretary, K.S. Jawahar Reddy and other officials.
TDP charge
The TDP leaders were quick to level allegations and said that the Chief Minister had taken a detour to London for “personal reasons” and added that he flouted the permission given by the CBI court to visit Davos for the WEF summit.
TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu had alleged that Mr. Jagan made a visit to London to park his ill-gotten wealth, a charge vehemently denied by Finance Minister Buggana Rajanedranath Reddy and Industries Minister Gudiwada Amarnath.
In a video release, Mr. Amarnath clarified that the flight carrying the Chief Minister and his family, had to stop at Istanbul airport for fuel recharge but due to severe air traffic congestion, the flight made a delayed arrival at Zurich airport. The stringent norms at Zurich were such that no flight could land after 10 p.m. local time and after several rounds of consultation with the Indian Embassy, it was decided that the flight would reach London, where the Chief Minister stayed overnight and left for Zurich on Saturday morning.
Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said that it was unfortunate that a senior leader like Mr. Ramakrishnudu had stooped to a low and levelled baseless allegations against the Chief Minister who was on an official visit. He wondered how Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, who served as Chief Minister for 14 years, would allow the leaders to make comments and twist the truth.
