A day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) engaged in a war of words over the vote-for-cash scam, plummeting their relationship to rock bottom, the scene is shifting to New Delhi.

The Governor of the two States, ESL Narasimhan, who has heard the views of the two CMs over the past few days, is headed to the national capital. He is expected to meet the Prime Minister, President and Home Ministry officials over the next few days. The scam, and his report on it, are the likely topics of the discussions.

Naidu, who made a direct and scathing attack on KCR yesterday, will camp in Delhi. Apart from interacting with a Chinese delegation, he is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other ministers.

KCR is also Delhi-bound tomorrow, ostensibly to meet Union Ministers ahead of the Industrial Policy launch on June 12.

The AP Cabinet, which met under Naidu’s leadership today, took a serious view of the alleged phone tapping by Telangana police and appointed a three-member committee to take follow-up action.

The TDP government in AP and TRS government in Telangana have been involved in a bitter feud over the scam. On May 31, the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested the TDP’s deputy leader in State Assembly A Revanth Reddy, allegedly as he offered ₹50 lakh to legislator Elvis Stephenson to make him vote for the TDP-BJP candidate in the Telangana Legislative Council elections.

An audio tape of Naidu’s alleged telephonic conversation with Stephenson was leaked to the media last week, precipitating the issue further.

Jagan at helm

Taking the lead in efforts to put the spotlight on the scam in Delhi was YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, leader of the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress.

He met President Pranab Mukherjee today and explained to him the alleged role of Naidu in the scam, and wanted action taken. YSR Congress cadres in different parts of AP undertook dharnas demanding that Naidu resign owning moral responsibility.

While refuting allegations of his involvement in the scam, Naidu launched a counter attack on KCR, questioning the latter’s right to tap his phone in Hyderabad. He too has an ACB and police force under him, Naidu reminded his detractors.

He further said law and order is Hyderabad comes under the Governor’s jurisdiction, and the Telangana government has no power on it. KCR hit back at a public meeting, saying Naidu had gotten caught in the scam well and truly, and nobody could help him. He advised Naidu not to meddle in the political affairs of Telangana.

Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, the Telangana ACB, which has been questioning Revanth Reddy and two others for the past few days, has reportedly gather more details on the roles of the different people involved.

ACB chief AK Khan and other top officials met KCR and senior Cabinet ministers to discuss the progress and future action regarding bringing Naidu into the ambit of the probe, based on the tapes and other evidence gathered so far.

Senior TRS leaders and State ministers Kadiam Srihari, T Srinivasa Yadav and Thummala Nageswara Rao (all erstwhile TDP leaders) launched an attack on Naidu, asking him to come clean on the tapes playing his voice and his role in the scam.

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