Prosecute CM for corruption, says AP Oppn

The Grand Alliance of four opposition parties -- Telugu Desam, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India – Marxist -- who have decided to make the alleged corruption of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government the main issue in the coming assembly elections, on Friday demanded that the chief minister be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A delegation of the Grand Alliance leaders met Governor N D Tiwari and submitted a detailed memorandum with the details of the 'abuse of power' by the chief minister.

The delegation, led by Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, alleged that the promoters of firms which invested in the companies of YSR's son Jagan Mohan Reddy were awarded contracts and projects by the state government.

The opposition questioned the flow of investment into Jagan Mohan Reddy's companies from various Mauritius-based companies and alleged that the 'ill-gotten and bribe money' was diverted through hawala channels.

The delegation included Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao, CPI state secretary K Narayana and CPI-M state secretary B V Raghavulu.

The delegation pointed out that the chief minister had declared his assets to be less than Rs 50 lakh in 2002.

"But after he was sworn in as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, he accumulated huge properties by floating various benami companies in the name of his son and other family members/associates, worth thousands of crores. From May 2004 onwards, Sri Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy amassed massive wealth and started floating various companies," the memorandum alleged.

The opposition parties alleged that this transaction of money and investments were in violation of the foreign trade policy, the Reserve Bank of India's regulations and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

The issue of irregularities in the companies promoted by Jagan Mohan Reddy had dominated the proceedings of the state legislative assembly earlier this week, leading to unprecedented pandemonium.

Reddy denied all charges of wrong doing, claiming that if some companies had bought the shares of his son's company at a higher price, it was their business decision. He added that the same firms had also made investments in several other companies in India.