CPI Andhra state secretary opposes Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest

CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna said that the Crime Investigation Department should be renamed as 'Jagan's Private Army in the state

Vijayawada: Expressing solidarity with former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu following his arrest in connection with an alleged multi-crore skill development scam case, Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary K Ramakrishna on Monday launched a scathing attack against the ruling YSRCP led by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Ramakrishna said that the Crime Investigation Department (CID) should be renamed as ‘Jagan’s Private Army in the state. “Arresting Chandrababu at midnight without any evidence is outrageous. CID is still searching for evidence even after days of arrest.

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CID should be renamed as JPS (Jagan’s Private Army) in the state”, he said while speaking to ANI. “It is difficult for the YSRCP to get even 75 seats out of 175. People are ready to send you home if you loot thousands of crores of rupees and come to power with that money”, Ramakrishna added.

Chandrababu Naidu was arrested in connection with an alleged multi-crore skill development scam case. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday posted for hearing on October 3 a plea of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in the skill development scam case.

Naidu approached the Supreme Court against the High Court order which declined to quash the FIR last week.

He sought the quashing of the FIR registered by AP-CID in the alleged Rs 371 crore skill development scam on the ground that the police did not obtain prior sanction from the Governor as mandated under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

In his plea, Naidu contended that the Andhra Pradesh High Court had rejected his petition by ignoring his pleading that under Section 17A of the PC Act, which came into force on July 26, 2018, no FIR against a public servant could be registered without prior sanction of the appropriate authority.

The FIR against Naidu was registered on December 9, 2021, and he was added as accused number 37 in the case. On September 7, 2023. Section 17 A of the PC Act was not complied with as “no permission was obtained from the competent authority”, the plea stated.

Naidu, presently the Leader of the Opposition, the national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), called the action against him “an orchestrated campaign of regime revenge and to derail the largest opposition in the state, the Telugu Desam Party”.

The extent of the political vendetta is further demonstrated by the belated application for grant of police custody on September 11, 2023, which names the political opponent i.e. the TDP and also the petitioner’s family, which is being targeted to crush all opposition to the party in power in the State with elections coming near in 2024,” it added.

The arrest of the TDP Chief has led to a political hustle in the state with several TDP leaders alleging that the former was arrested unjustly on the basis of ‘false corruption charges’.

Earlier, Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneshwari participated in special prayers at St. Paul’s Lutheran church at Jampet, Rajahmundry for the release of the TDP Chief.

People also gathered inside the Church with banners in their hands, condemning the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu.