 "Naidu rushes to Delhi in cash-for-vote affair")
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s council of ministers resolved to ask the Centre for proper implementation of Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, which deals with the powers of governor in the common capital region. The government held a special Cabinet meeting in the light of an ongoing investigation into the role of Naidu’s men in the cash-for-vote scam in Hyderabad.
The Cabinet also decided to complain to the Centre about the alleged tapping of Naidu’s phone by the Telangana government.
Section 8 of the AP Reorganisation Act confers on the common Governor of both the states special responsibilities for the security of life, liberty and property and endows responsibility in matters such as law and order and internal security in the common capital area.
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Armed with the Cabinet resolutions, Naidu left for New Delhi later in the evening to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to give his account of the issue, which began with the arrest of his party MLA on May 31 followed by his alleged telephone conversation leaked on Sunday.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party is an ally of the NDA government at the Centre and he is depending on this relationship to relent the Telangana government from further precipitating the matter.
His Delhi visit is also aimed at containing the political damage involving his personal reputation since all the Opposition parties in AP besides Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao are set to make their version heard in Delhi. YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy today met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought a detailed inquiry into the political bribery episode besides seeking special category status for AP.
While Governor ESL Narasimhan is going to Delhi on Wednesday to brief the Centre on the latest developments, the Telangana chief minister will visit Delhi on June 12 to explain his version of the case to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
The investigative agency is said to be in the process of filing fresh FIRs against more people whose names surfaced during the investigation.
Meanwhile, a section of Congress leaders in Telangana sought a CBI inquiry into the episode while demanding the resignation of Naidu as chief minister.
AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the government was going to constitute a committee with three Cabinet ministers on the phone tapping affair.