Demanding an apology from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for perpetrating a ₹371-crore skill development scam and leaving the unemployed youth in a lurch, Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has challenged the opposition party to prove, with invoices, the “so-called equipment given to the skill development centres.”
“I am ready to quit politics altogether if the TDP comes with the proof of equipment given to the skill development centres,” Mr. Govardhan Reddy asserted at a media conference here on October 1 (Sunday).
The Minister’s accusation came a day after a delegation of the TDP leaders and suspended YSR Congress Party legislator Anam Ramanarayana Reddy visited a skill development centre at an engineering college at Gudur, near here, and claimed that it had equipment worth ₹10 crore for honing the skills of the youth.
He explained that as per G.O.Ms. No. 4, each of the 42 skill development centres should have been provided with equipment worth ₹80 crore. “As per my enquiry with an engineering college management has revealed that equipment worth not even ₹2 crore is at the skill development centre set up in the college,” the Minister added.
It was shameful on the part of the TDP to contend that the arrest of Mr. Naidu was illegal and stage a “noise protest,” he said.
He asked the TDP to agree to a thorough probe by the Centre in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate and the Income-Tax Department “exposing the scam,” which he described as only a “tip of the iceberg.” He asked Mr. Naidu to boldly face the probe without obtaining a stay order from the courts.
Meanwhile, Nellore MLA and former Irrigation Minister P. Anil Kumar told the media that fearing arrest in the Inner Ring Road (IRR) scam, TDP national general secretary N. Lokesh was staying put in Delhi on the pretext of bailing out his father from court cases.
He objected to the way ‘Motha Mogiddham’ protest was organised by the TDP on Saturday, and said that it looked more like a celebration with none of the TDP leaders exhibiting any remorse for their incarcerated leader.
