TDP adopting 3-point strategy to fight probe against Naidu

Telugu Desam Party is adopting a three-pronged strategy to fight politically as well as legally the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged amassing of wealth by it chief N Chandrababu Naidu, based on a PIL filed by Y S Vijaya, wife of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

It will also take the fight to the "people's court" and expose the "secret understanding" between the ruling Congress and the YSR Congress of which Vijaya is an honorary president.

After persuasion by his party senior leaders, Chandrababu filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking recall of its earlier order directing the CBI, the ED and other agencies to conduct a preliminary inquiry on Vijaya's petition. He felt aggrieved over the fact that the high court ordered a preliminary inquiry without even hearing him.

"There was gross suppression of material facts in Vijaya's petition. Besides, it is politically-motivated and hence deserves to be dismissed," the TDP chief contended.

He submitted to the high court that several petitions filed against him by the petitioner's husband were dismissed by it previously. The same allegations were made in the latest petition by Vijaya without any mention about their earlier dismissals, he said.

While the high court is yet to pass orders on Naidu's petition, his party colleagues have launched a high-pitched political campaign to counter the charges levelled against him.

The top leadership of TDP, including politburo members K Yerran Naidu and Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, who are also lawyers, is gathering all material facts related to the issues mentioned in PIL.

"We want to fight the case legally and politically as YSR's wife filed the petition as part of a secret understanding with the Congress. In fact, it was her late husband who cleared several mega projects," Yerran Naidu and Ramakrishnudu alleged.

Chandrababu Naidu reacted to the issue late last night saying, "I have always been transparent and never did any wrong. My life is an open book but they (Vijaya and Jagan) are seeking to tarnish it."

He recalled that as many as 23 Assembly House Committees, four judicial committees, four high-level official committees and one Crime Investigation Department probe were instituted to probe various allegations against him.

"In not even a single case could they establish anything amiss," he said.