Nara Lokesh met his father and former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in jail on the day he completed 50 days in prison.
Nara Lokesh during his Yuva Galam padayatra. (Supplied)
TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh on Saturday slammed the YSRCP leaders and claimed that they were openly threatening to eliminate his father N Chandrababu Naidu, who is party national president and former chief minister.
Speaking to media persons after meeting Naidu, who completed 50 days in judicial remand at the Central Prison in Rajamahendravaram after he was arrested in connection with ₹371 crore Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) scam, Lokesh alleged that the YSRCP leaders were saying, “Naidu must die and he will be eliminated.”
Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari was also present during the meeting in the prison
Lokesh said that a woman minister in the YSRCP government was saying that his mother Bhuvaneswari would also be sent to jail. “My mother is nowhere connected to the case and she was meeting people with a slogan that ‘Truth must prevail’ and for that also the minister was saying that my mother would be sent to prison.”
“You (YSRCP government) lodged my father in prison for 50 days. Do you have any new evidence to present before the people? Do you have any new evidence in the AP Skill Development Corporation scam, Fibrenet scam and the Inner Ring Road scam?” he asked.
“Have you shown any new evidence with respect to the allegation that funds were transferred into the party’s account?” Lokesh asked, challenging the state government to present new evidence.
Denying the role of his family members and others in the AP Skill Development Corporation Scam, he claimed that not a single rupee corruption happened during his father’s tenure in AP.
“We are ready to place our Income Tax returns and properties details before the people,” he said, alleging that the state government was spending crores of rupees as a fee to lawyers to ensure that Naidu should not come out of the prison.
He said the TDP would continue to fight against the misrule of the YSRCP government and took strong exception to the attack on the RTC driver by YSRCP leaders for failing to pave the way for them in Kavali and sought to know why the state government failed to take necessary action against them.
Lokesh further charged the ruling YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh with manipulating the system and institutions to ensure that Naidu does not go to the masses.
“It has been 50 days since Naidu has been incarcerated. Despite no mistake of his, the YSRCP government has manipulated the system and institutions to ensure that he does not go to the masses,” he told reporters outside the jail.
According to the TDP leader, the Chief Minister, ministers and legislators of the state are driven by ‘political vendetta’.
Expressing concern over Naidu’s health condition, the former minister claimed that the TDP chief has lost 6kg after going to the prison and said his father suffers from a congenital heart condition.
Though doctors recommended an eye surgery for Naidu, Lokesh alleged that the Jagan government allegedly pressurised police to retract that report, among other such developments.
(With inputs from PTI)
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