The timing — and the embarrassment it was intended to cause — were perfect.

The cash-for-vote scam has jolted the TDP and its chief N Chandrababu Naidu, just as they are completing one year of rule in Andhra Pradesh today.

Unfolding with the arrest last week of its most vocal legislator in Telangana, A Revanth Reddy, by the sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the issue reached new proportions on Sunday night. Tapes allegedly incriminating the AP Chief Minister were leaked to the media and played out on local channels.

On Monday, Telangana police kept up the suspense on whether or not it would issue summons to Naidu. On the other hand, AP Ministers upped their ante, criticising the “phone-tapping” episode and accusing the TRS and its chief K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) of “buying” TDP legislators in Telangana.

Collage of clippings The AP government and TDP leaders have alleged that the tapes have been doctored and that they would take legal recourse to counter the charges.

Media advisor to the AP government Parakala Prabhakar said the voice in the tapes was not that of Naidu, and that a collage of clippings might have been made to frame the CM.

Naidu as well as KCR have met ESL Narasimhan, who is Governor of both AP and Telangana, to reportedly discuss this issue. The Governor is expected to go to New Delhi on Wednesday to meet the Prime Minister and Home Minister.

Revanth Reddy had been arrested by the ACB minutes after he emerged from nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson’s kin’s house in Secunderabad, reportedly after offering him a bribe of ₹50 lakh as an advance in return for his vote in Council elections.

Revanth, who has been the most vocal critic of the KCR government, was grilled for three days. His bail petition is expected to come up tomorrow. Along with him the two accused — Harry Sebastian and Rudra Udayshankar — are being questioned.

A year after the bifurcation, the issue has only increased the bitterness between Telangana and AP.

An emergency meeting of the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet is slated for tomorrow, to represent to the Centre how the Telangana government is misusing state apparatus to tap phones, including that of the head of a State.

It is also planning to ask the Centre to empower the Governor to handle the administration in the capital, as per the AP Re-Organisation Act.

Devineni Uma, AP Irrigation Minister, has filed a case in Visakhapatnam against KCR and his team of bureaucrats for tapping his phone. Another case was filed by local lawyer NVV Prasad against the TRS government for snooping on TDP members.

Our Visakhapatnam bureau reports: In Visakhapatnam alone, six cases were filed cases against KCR, YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Rao, Stephenson and ACB officials.

TDP leaders claimed that the entire episode was orchestrated by KCR, Jagan and Stephenson, and ACB officials had sided with them. The complainants claimed that Naidu’s telephonic conversation was fabricated.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW