BJP, Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party slam Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest in Rs 371 crore graft case

Amid speculations of an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the upcoming Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Power Star Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena Party slammed the arrest of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu in a Rs 371 crore graft case.  

Chief of BJP’s Andhra Pradesh unit Daggubati Purandeshwari condemned the police action against the TDP chief. Purandeshwari took to X formerly Twitter to condemn the arrest and said it was not reasonable to arrest Naidu without giving proper notice and naming him in the FIR.  

Pawan Kalyan, who was on his way to meet Naidu, was stopped and detained by the Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday. "We have taken Kalyan and Manohar into preventive custody. We are taking them to Vijayawada," Nandigama Sub-Divisional Police Officer Janardhan Naidu said. Naidu further noted that they would not be produced in front of a judge since this is only preventive custody.  

Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest  

Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on Saturday morning at around 6 am in the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation case under IPC sections including Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), 240 (cheating and dishonestly delivery of property) and 465 (forgery).  

In a notice served to the former Andhra Pradesh CM, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the CID’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), M Dhanunjayudu said, “It was a non-bailable offence”. The notice was served under CrPC Section 50 (1) (2). The Andhra Pradesh CM has also invoked the Prevention of Corruption Act against Naidu.  

The scam is related to the formation of the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC). The APSSDC in 2014 was aimed at training unemployed youth and forming ties with educational institutes near industries like Kia in the Anantapur district.  

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According to the CID, Chandrababu Naidu allegedly masterminded a massive Rs 371 crore scam under the guise of the APSSDC to train unemployed youth in the state. He allegedly meticulously planned, directed and executed the scam. During Naidu’s tenure as the CM, the Andhra Pradesh government entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with german engineering giant Siemens.  

It is alleged that Rs 371 crore was disbursed in five installments within three months, even though Siemens had not invested any funds into the project. The MoU said that the Andhra Pradesh government was responsible for contributing 10 per cent of the total project cost of Rs 3,356 crore.  

Will TDP enter an alliance with BJP or the Jana Sena Party anytime soon?  

Chandrababu Naidu mentioned at an event in August that he would discuss TDP’s alliance with the BJP at the “right time”.  Since that time, there has been speculation that Pawan Kalyan’s political outfit and the TDP would form an alliance with the BJP for the 2024 Andhra Pradesh elections. In May this year, Pawan Kalyan had announced that he would contest the 2024 state election alongside the TDP and the BJP. The Power Star wants the BJP to join hands with the TDP and the Jana Sena Party to defeat the YSRCP.  

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