: YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy has urged the Central government to make public the names of individuals who declared their income under the Income Declaration Scheme 2016.
Mr. Jagan wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in ordering a thorough inquiry into the corruption charges made against the NDA’s key ally — TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu — whose two-and-a-half year tenure was “steeped in corruption.” The Naidu government was “looting” the State in an unprecedented manner. There were charges of corruption to the tune of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore, he alleged.
Mr. Jagan addressed a letter to the Prime Minister, explaining about Mr. Naidu’s claims that Rs. 13,000 crore had been declared in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, including Rs. 10,000 crore by one individual from Hyderabad. At a time when the Central Board of Direct Taxes had clarified that no official list of region-wise declarations was issued and wanted people not to pay heed to such fraudulent messages, how could Mr. Naidu become privy to the information, he asked.
“If true, the person declared should have been a benami of Mr. Naidu. Otherwise, how can he be so specific about the numbers,” he sought to know. The YSRC president recalled that the party had submitted all the information with enough evidence, seeking initiation of a probe into the corruption charges against Mr. Naidu, but no action had been taken till date. This had strengthened Mr. Naidu’s belief that nobody in the country could summon the courage to order an inquiry against him.
“True to his confidence, he is the only Chief Minister who was caught red-handed distributing his ill-gotten and unaccounted black money to buy MLAs. Even though caught red-handed, he mocks us all by continuing in power without being arrested or resigning,” he said.
