The allegation made by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that a container lorry laden with currency notes went out of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp office at Tadepalli on March 26 (Tuesday) sparked a political row.
While the leaders of the main opposition party demanded an inquiry by the election authorities, the ruling YSRCP leaders described it as an “unnecessary drama”.
TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh alleged that the police did not check the vehicle that went in and out of the CM’s camp office in the last two days. He raised a suspicion that “the vehicle might have contained currency notes, files hidden by the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat or even the drugs smuggled from Brazil”.
In a message posted on social media platform ‘X’ on March 27 (Wednesday), Mr. Lokesh said the police were frisking his convoy every day but were blind to the violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) committed in front of them.
He insisted that the Director General of Police (DGP) should give reasons for his department’s “dereliction of duties”.
Meanwhile, TDP national spokesman K. Pattabhi Ram alleged that the vehicle carried cash to the chambers of an APSRTC depot clerk in the NTR Administrative Block and money was counted with machines there on March 27 (Wednesday).
“The State Chief Electoral Officer must order an inquiry and take the necessary action. The CCTV footage of the vehicle having registration number AP16Z0363 should be examined,” he demanded while addressing the media on Wednesday.
Mr. Pattabhi Ram alleged that money earned through illegal businesses related to land, sand, mining, wine, red sanders, ganja and drugs was being shifted to all parts of the State by using the APSRTC.
The officials from the CMO were not available for comments.
Meanwhile, YSRCP North Andhra regional coordinator Y.V. Subba Reddy said that the TDP leaders were creating “unnecessary drama”.
Addressing the media during an election campaign in Visakhapatnam South Constituency on March 27 (Wednesday), Mr. Subba Reddy said that many government departments were running from the CM’s camp office and the vehicle in question might have transported goods to the offices.
Refuting the claims by the TDP leaders, he said, “People are aware that the container laden with drugs caught in Visakhapatnam belongs to the relatives of Mr. Lokesh.”
