No Vengeance Against Chandrababu: AP CM

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has said he was being wrongfully blamed for N. Chandrababu Naidu's arrest. “I have nothing to do with it. I have no vengeance against Naidu,” he said at a mega meeting of YSRC here on Monday.

“I was in London when police arrested Naidu. This arrest is not an act of revenge or political vendetta. If it was so, he could have immediately got himself released on bail. Courts go by evidence,” the Chief Minister said.

Mocking at the proposed Telugu Desam-Jana Sena alliance for the next elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the two leaders carried ‘zero’ credibility and they would together form “a bigger zero.”

He said the TD-Jana Sena alliance will not have any adverse impact on the YSRC. “While the TD has no achievements to its credit, Jana Sena doesn’t even have flag-bearers or candidates to contest in all the 175 constituencies. Their electoral alliance makes no difference to the YSRC’s poll prospects,” he asserted.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan also had a share in the corruption of Chandrababu Naidu. “PK is a partner in the economic offences of Chandrababu Naidu.”

About the arrest of Naidu, the CM said, “The arrest took place based on proper investigation and evidence in the skill development scam. I was in London. When in power, Naidu did not allow CBI into the state due to the fear of being investigated over his economic offences. TD-friendly media has been churning out false stories to create an impression that Naidu’s arrest took place due to political vendetta,” he said.

“Naidu carries no credibility. His entire political history was full of backstabbing, cheating and misleading the public,” the CM added.

Naidu, he said, was against the poor. “He opposed the distribution of house site pattas to the poor and moved the top courts citing a resultant demographic imbalance,” said the CM, adding that support to the TD leader is equal to extending support to capitalism. “It only means the poor will remain poor.”

He appealed to the people to defeat the “evil designs” of Naidu and his foster son “who are planning to take the people for a ride once again with false propaganda.”

“Naidu has his former ally, the BJP, at the Centre, and his foster son, Pawan Kalyan, who still claims that his party is in an alliance with the BJP. Moreover, his nearest family member (Purandeswari) is the state BJP chief and half of the state BJP machinery consists of former TD leaders.”

The CM said, “It was the central agencies - ED, Income Tax, who conducted an inquiry and unravelled Naidu's scam. The Income Tax department has also sent notices to Naidu.”

“After the Modi government got to know about Naidu's corruption, they launched an inquiry. We were in the Opposition at that time. Naidu, as then CM, barred CBI, ED and IT from entering AP. He wanted to evade investigation. The Yellow media and yellow thieves gang are misleading people by saying that Naidu's arrest is illegal,” Jagan Mohan Reddy added.