The Telugu Desam Party on Tuesday lodged a complaint with President of India Droupadi Murmu against alleged stifling of the voices of the opposition and witch-hunting of the party leaders.
A delegation of the TDP leaders led by party general secretary Nara Lokesh met the President of India and brought to her notice the alleged illegal arrest of TDP supremo Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the multi-crore skill development case.
The TDP leaders told the President that though no evidence had been found, Naidu was arrested only to sling mud at him. They produced the information available with them and also the evidence to support their arguments.
Making an appeal to the President of India to uphold the democratic values in Andhra Pradesh, Lokesh and the TDP MPs requested her to stand by the people of Andhra Pradesh to ensure that their Constitutional rights are protected.
"Your action in this matter will undoubtedly reinforce the faith of the citizens in the democratic institutions of the nation," they told her.
In a five-page representation, Lokesh said that the Skill Development scam is a fabricated one as there is absolutely no evidence of the involvement of Mr Chandrababu and no evidence on money trail connecting him or his family members.
The names of the officers, Premchandra Reddy, then managing director of the APSSDC and Mr Kallam Ajay Reddy, then Finance secretary and chief advisor to the Chief Minister who were the authorised signatories for the release of funds in this project are surprisingly missing from the FIR.
They also said in the letters the evasion of tax by companies connected to DesignTech should not implicate the government of Andhra Pradesh as the tax matters are the responsibility of the companies not the government.
Significantly, Chandrababu Naidu's contribution to skill development reflected in AP's top rank in 2016, 2018 and 2019 and second rank in 2017 providing jobs to 80,000 students, they said.
