Hyderabad, June 5 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister N. Chinnarajappa on Friday dared the Telangana government to book Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the cash-for-vote scam.
Chinnarajappa also challenged Telangana Home Minister N. Narasimha Reddy to make public the audio tapes of Naidu’s alleged conversation with the nominated legislator of Telangana.
He told reporters in Rajahmundry that they will complain to the central government about the phone tapping by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in Hyderabad, the common capital of the two states.
Chinnarajappa, who holds the home portfolio, was reacting to Narasimha Reddy’s allegation that Naidu was involved in the cash-for-vote scam.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator in Telangana, A. Revanth Reddy, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on May 31 in Hyderabad when he was offering Rs.50 lakh to nominated legislator Elvis Stephenson to make him vote for the TDP-BJP candidate in the Telangana legislative council elections.
The Telangana home minister has claimed that the police have evidence that Naidu also spoke to Stephenson.
Chinnarajappa alleged that the TRS and YSR Congress party hatched a conspiracy to implicate Naidu in a false case.
He wanted to know why Stephenson was not arrested while Revanth Reddy was booked and taken into custody.
The Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister said it was the TRS which used illegal methods to woo opposition legislators.
He said with 63 legislators, the TRS was in a position to win three or four seats in the council but it secured five seats as the party polled 20 more votes.
He demanded a probe into the additional votes polled by TRS candidates.