Former Union Minister and Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) Political Bureau member P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju asked the Central government to intervene in Andhra Pradesh affairs as the YSRCP government failed to discharge its administrative duties in accordance with the Constitution.
He said that the arrest of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the ‘so-called’ skill development scam was a classic example of ‘political vendetta’ and his detention in jail resembled the situation in Pakistan where arrests were common for opposition leaders.
In an exclusive interview to The Hindu, he said that the State government was suppressing the voice of TDP leaders, and defying Article-19 of the Constitution which guaranteed freedom of speech, peaceful gatherings and protests. “Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government is violating all rules and regulations laid in the Constitution. The Union government has powers under Article-356 to take necessary action on the State government if the latter failed to follow provisions of the Constitution,” he said.
“It is not fair for the YSRCP government to point out each and every decision taken by the previous TDP government. It is a bad precedent. Such a situation prevails in Pakistan where the new government always arrests the leaders who stepped down from the seat of power. Unfortunately such a situation exists in AP with the arrest of Mr. Naidu whose involvement was not proved at all in the skill development case. We request the Union government to use its powers to control the AP government which is brutally suppressing the voice of the people when they come out to extend their solidarity to Mr. Naidu,” Mr. Raju added.
He has also urged that the Union government to take action on IAS and IPS officers who connived with YSRCP government in violating rules and regulations while discharging their duties. “Their mistakes should be noted down in service records. It would act like a deterrent and make other officials to abide by rules,” he added.
He has also charged that the State government had failed to develop the State in the last four years. “With a great vision, Mr. Naidu acquired around 29,000 acres of land from people of Amaravati under land pooling system. Mr. Jagan has also failed to ensure construction of the international airport at Bhogapuram although land was acquired during the TDP regime itself. The same is the case with Central Tribal University for which Y.S. Jagan government again laid foundation near Saluru constituency instead of constructing the University in Kothavalasa where land was acquired in 2017 itself,” he said.
