A cut-throat politician that he is known to be, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will not show any mercy on his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu, if the cash-for-vote scam is carried to its logical end.
This is what leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samiti believe as the investigation in the case intensified on Wednesday with the voluntary confession of nominated MLA Elvis Stephension in a court that he was bribed by Telugu Desam MLA A. Revanth Reddy.
The TRS leaders argue that there was no reason for Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao to show any sympathy to Mr. Naidu for the obstacles that he set up in creation of Telangana State.
In any case, Mr. Rao or the government will not interfere at all as the case was in public domain. The law will take its own course, said Karimnagar MP B. Vinod Kumar.
The party was credited with the view that the Centre will also not interfere in the case because the BJP-led NDA government had no political necessity or obligation to bail out Mr. Naidu. The BJP had no sweet memories either about Mr. Naidu when he played the role of a catalyst in the formation of United Front governments when Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee lost no confidence motion in Parliament.
The TRS leaders felt that Mr. Naidu fell into his own trap due to his arrogance and adopting a foolish method of bribing the nominated MLA.
His image has taken a beating after the episode. He would be further degrading himself if he tinkered with the case. The only option left for him was to adhere to law and face the prosecution courageously.
They recalled how Mr. Naidu cried foul when YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy visited New Delhi in a bid to free himself from the assets case against him. Mr. Naidu was doing the same by meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy told a press conference on Wednesday that Mr. Naidu was sure to go to jail. Therefore, the Ministers of Andhra Pradesh were in discussion as to who should succeed Mr. Naidu. He was scared because the Centre was not going to help him because it was convinced that he did wrong. Mr. Revanth Reddy was made a scapegoat by the TDP.
Only option left for TDP chief is to adhere to law and face the prosecution courageously, say TRS leaders
