Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has decided to stall the entry of ‘tainted’ Ministers into the Assembly if they continue in the posts as and when the budget session resumes.
TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the response of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan on the complaint against continuance of these Ministers in the Cabinet, said the party was seeking an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee on May 22 or 23.
A delegation of TDP MPs, MLAs and MLCs would meet the President to complain to him about the efforts being made by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to shield these ‘corrupt’ Ministers.
TDP rallies on May 20
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Mr. Naidu said the TDP leaders and cadre would stage rallies across the State on May 20 to educate the people about the ‘rampant corruption’ during the Congress rule. The issue would be discussed threadbare in the party’s biennial conclave Mahanadu and finalise an action plan.
In the face of charges framed against them, Ministers, including Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy, were making rounds to the courts, instead of addressing grievances of the poor. “They have no moral right to continue. They should either resign or the Chief Minister should sack them,” he said.
He wondered why the Congress High Command was reluctant to act against these Ministers when it had recently drawn flak from the Supreme Court on the issue of corruption.
Replying to queries, he made light of the criticism of the YSR Congress leaders that the TDP had colluded with the Congress and this was evident from his (Mr. Naidu’s) stay in Delhi to prevent grant of bail to their party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. “This is most ridiculous. Why are these leaders silent on the tainted Ministers? They are indulging in mudslinging on the TDP as they are aware that they cannot wash their hands off corruption that has taken place during the YSR regime,” he said.
‘Political opportunism’
Mr. Naidu attributed ‘political opportunism’ to some of the leaders leaving the party and joining either the TRS or YSRC. “These leaders had nothing against my leadership for 30 years, but now they are finding fault after being denied MLC seats and other posts,” he said.
