Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is an economic offender, and he is not like former Prime Ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri or A.B. Vajpayee, says Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan was addressing the media on September 14 (Thursday) outside the Rajahmundry Central Prison, after calling on Telugu Desam Party national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during ‘mulaqat’. Mr. Naidu was remanded in judicial custody on September 10 and lodged in the prison in the skill development scam case.
“Nobody is above law. Mr. Naidu’s role has to be established in the case. But is Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy blemish-free to proceed against Mr. Naidu? It is nothing but an act of political vendetta,” Mr. Pawan Kalyan said.
‘A precedent’
Stating that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had set a precedent in getting a former Chief Minister arrested, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said it could be applied to a former Director General of Police or a former Chief Secretary in the future. “Even a 20-year-old police encounter case can be reopened under it,” he said.
Observing that political games would ruin Andhra Pradesh in the long run, Mr. Pawan Kalyan feared that it would halt the State’s development and lead to rise in unemployment.
Advice to bureaucrats
Cautioning the bureaucrats toeing the line of the Chief Minister, Mr. Pawan Kalyan said that they should realise that Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy would not come to their rescue for their acts of omissions and commissions. “We know how Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had deserted his mother and sister,” he said.
“Mr. Naidu had built Cyberabad in Telangana. In contrast, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy has been looting all the natural resources of the State. The Chief Minister, his aides, the bureaucrats and the police who are ignoring the laws will have to be prepared to face the repercussions of their actions later,” he warned.
“Lawlessness prevails in Andhra Pradesh, and nothing is being done as per the Constitution,” he said.
