Nara Lokesh, the General Secretary of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), held a meeting with President Draupadi Murmu on Tuesday to implore her intervention in the arrest of his father and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu. Lokesh asserted that the arrest was not only "illegal" but also a result of a "political vendetta" orchestrated by Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In a letter addressed to the President, Lokesh emphasized the absence of any supporting evidence for the alleged fabricated scam, rendering the accusations against their leader baseless. He contended that these charges appeared to be part of a larger political conspiracy designed to tarnish Chandrababu Naidu's unblemished and non-corrupt reputation.
Lokesh further characterized Naidu's arrest as the culmination of vindictive politics and a misuse of power that had been apparent since the YSRCP (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party) came into power. He accused the party of consistently targeting TDP leaders through the initiation of "illegal cases and arrests," often involving the police force.
The TDP General Secretary stressed that there was no concrete evidence to substantiate the allegations related to the Rs 371-crore corruption case. He firmly asserted that no money trail connected him or his family to the alleged shell companies involved.
Lokesh appealed to President Murmu to intercede in this matter and requested her support in repudiating the unfounded allegations against his father. Chandrababu Naidu had been taken into custody on September 9 in connection with an alleged scam linked to the state's Skill Development Corporation. The Andhra Pradesh CID (Criminal Investigation Department) had accused Naidu of being the "principal conspirator" in a scam estimated to have cost the state government Rs 371 crore.
