Even as the arrest of TDP MLA A. Revanth Reddy on charge of bribing a nominated member representing the Anglo-Indian community Elvis Stephenson dampened mood of the Telugu Desam Party, the issue apparently figured briefly in Andhra Pradesh Cabinet meeting, more as a passing reference by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The Cabinet, which met a day ahead of the Nava Nirmana Deeksha commencing at Vijayawada and across the State on Tuesday, believed to have observed that that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi deliberately framed the TDP MLA at the instance of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao.
Mr. Naidu reportedly said how could a party with mere 63 MLAs could field five candidates in the first place. It was evident that the TRS depended on purchasing MLAs to sail through the election. The episode was similar to a thief himself raising an alarm as the TRS was bent on tarnishing the image of the TDP, Mr. Naidu is believed to have observed. The brief reference to Mr. Revanth Reddy’s incident came in the context of Cabinet’s decision to write a formal letter to the Union government for clarity on Governor’s special powers on law and order in the wake of several unilateral decisions being taken by the Telangana Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhara Rao.
“Our focus in the Cabinet was on observing June 2 as the Day of Rededication for development the State that was bifurcated against people’s will,” a Minister said. These conspiracies hatched by the ruling party in Telangana were part of dirty political game it had been pursing and the Cabinet had better sense not to waste its time on such non-issues, he added.
No decision yet on excise policy
The Cabinet also postponed the decision on the new excise policy.
