A day after some TV channels aired an audio tape allegedly containing a phone conversation between Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and a nominated MLA of the Telangana Assembly, Elvis Stephenson, Andhra Pradesh bristled with political activity all day.
While denying the authenticity of the tape, TDP leaders and sympathisers filed phone-tapping cases against Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Home Minister N. Narsimha Reddy, officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and others in police stations across the State.
Irate activists blocked national highways passing through Kurnool and Krishna districts, and burnt effigies of Mr. Rao at a few places.
The Chief Minister himself maintained silence on the matter until late into his speech at the government’s anniversary celebrations in Guntur district. With Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan among the guests, he launched into a scathing attack against his Telangana counterpart for playing ‘conspiratorial politics’ to defame him with sting operations, forged documents and doctored tape.
“Who gave the power to KCR to dictate terms to me? I have equal powers in Hyderabad which is the joint capital for 10 years. I will not be cowed down by the threats from the KCR government,” he said.
Mr. Naidu warned that he could hit back. “Be careful, I have several weapons which I will release at an appropriate time,” he thundered.
Further, he has called an emergency meeting of the State Cabinet for Tuesday, which is likely to pass a unanimous resolution condemning the alleged tapping of the Chief Minister’s phone by the Telangana government. Later in the afternoon, Mr. Naidu is scheduled to fly to New Delhi, where he is likely to present his case to the Union government.
From the Telangana government, the response to the morning’s events came first from its IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and then his father Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao himself. While the son denied the tape was doctored and dared Mr. Naidu to undergo a lie-detector test with him, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao, in his typical style, contested Mr. Naidu’s claim to equal powers in Hyderabad.
“Telangana is ruled by a son of the soil and if Mr. Naidu continues to talk about rights over Hyderabad, the people of our new State will not tolerate such remarks,” he said and warned the AP Chief Minister of consequences from the cash-for-vote scandal.
“No one on earth will bail you out of the bribery scam,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Monday set the ball rolling by >lodging a case with the Bhavanipuram police station here accusing the Telangana government of tapping Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s phone and citing Section 26B of the Indian Telegraph Act.
>‘Prima facie, phone-tapping violates the Telegraph Act’
Other party functionaries filed cases in Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Chittoor and Kadapa districts, citing the Information Technology Act, and several sections of the IPC: Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 166 (misuse of power by a public servant), Section 153A (instigating tensions among people), Section 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with the intent of harming one’s reputation), Section 464 (creation of a false document or electronic record), Section 469 (public servants producing false evidence to damage reputation), and Section 470 (production of forged evidence).
Information and Public Relations Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy made it clear that the Andhra Pradesh government will take its case to the Central government and contest the definition of law and order functions in Hyderabad, the joint capital.
“He [Mr. Naidu] has been a Chief Minister for three terms. He is a politician with Z-plus category security. If his telephone can be tapped, what will be the fate of the common man?” he asked.
The Opposition YSR Congress too is planning to take matters to the Centre, with its president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy scheduled to travel to New Delhi for a meeting with the Union Home Minister and perhaps even President Pranab Mukherjee.
Timeline
- June 7
- 9:30 p.m.: Alleged tapes of Chandrababu Naidu's conversation with MLA Elvis Stephenson leaked
- 11 p.m.: Naidu summons A.P. Chief Secretary, DGP and other senior officials
- June 8
- 12 midnight: Communications adviser asserts that tape were fake
- 7:30 a.m.: Naidu lands in Vijayawada
- 10 a.m.: In Vijayawada, Minister D. Umamaheswara Rao files case against KCR
- 10:30 a.m.: Naidu meets aides
- 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Flurry of cases filed in Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Tirupati
- 1 p.m.: Telangana Minister K.T. Rama Rao dares Naidu to take lie detector test
- 2 p.m.: Govt. calls emergency Cabinet meeting on Tuesday
- 7:30 p.m.: Naidu,at a meeting in Guntur, lashes out at KCR for attempting to defame him
