Vijayawada: The YSRC on Sunday claimed a moral victory over TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu being remanded to judicial custody, with ruling party leaders saying the action followed the production of clinching evidence in court.
Ruling party’s general secretary Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said that the 14-day remand for Chandrababu Naidu “is proof that the CID produced clinching evidence in the Skill Development Scam. So, TD chief will have to face due procedure as per law”.
Reiterating the claim that the former chief minister was the kingpin of the '371-crore skill development scam, Ramakrishna Reddy said the case was evidence-based and denied political victimisation.
Speaking to the media after the ACB court remanded Naidu to judicial custody here on Sunday, Ramakrishna Reddy said that Naidu looted crores of public money by creating shell companies and conspiring with his conduits. He said, “Naidu is the scriptwriter, producer and director of this scam. The probing agency has strong evidence against Naidu who masterminded the scam. The entire political life of Naidu was full of corruption and his involvement was tangible in the assigned lands scam, insider trading of Amaravati lands and several others.”
Ramakrishna Reddy said that Naidu committed several economic offences during his tenure at the helm, and termed the skill development scam as “only a tip of the iceberg”. He pointed out that while the CID tried to arrange a helicopter to bring him to Vijayawada after the arrest showing respect towards his age and status, Naidu planned to draw sympathy by preferring to go by road.
“Instead of hanging head in shame for his involvement in the scam, the TD president and other leaders tried to draw sympathy by provoking people and creating hurdles to the police in discharge of duties,” he said.
Objecting to the ruckus created by TD cadres and Naidu’s followers after the arrest, Ramakrishna Reddy rapped Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan for “creating drama” and accusing Kalyan and Nara Lokesh of using abusive language to create law-and-order issues.
Ramakrishna Reddy, pointing to Naidu’s legal counsel, a Supreme Court advocate, questioned the purpose of paying Rs 1.5 crore a day.
Claiming that believers of honest policies were happy with the developments, he said that accountability is the first principle of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
