"Have done nothing wrong," says AP CM on arrest warrant

A day after a court in Maharashtra issued an arrest warrant against him, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Friday said he did nothing wrong and had only tried to protect the interests of north Telangana by opposing the Babli project on the Godavari.

Hitting out at the BJP, Deputy Chief Minister (Revenue) K E Krishna Murthy said the saffron party was foisting cases against Naidu as part of a "political conspiracy."

The judicial first class magistrate of Dharmabad in Nanded district, N R Gajbhiye, had issued the order against Naidu and 15 others in a 2010 case related to an agitation by them over the Babli projecti.

 

The magistrate directed police to arrest all the accused and produce them in the court by September 21.

Addressing a public meeting at Sunnipenta in Kurnool district this afternoon, the Chief Minister said: "What I did eight years ago was only to protect the north Telangana region and ensure no damage happened to Telugu people due to the construction of the Babli project...

We will think what to do about the police case (and the arrest warrant)."

He said Maharashtra police deliberately arrested him and other TDP leaders on the (then united AP) border when they went to protest against the Babli construction.

"I told the police then itself that I did nothing wrong and they could do whatever they wanted. At one point, they said they have filed cases and later said no cases. They then forcibly brought us back in a special flight to Hyderabad.

And now they (Maharashtra police) are saying notices and arrest warrant have been issued," Naidu said.

"We will think what to do about it," he added.

Addressing the gathering, Deputy Chief Minister (Revenue) K E Krishna Murthy alleged that the BJP rule resembled that of the British regime.

"BJP is foisting cases against Chandrababu as part of a political conspiracy. (Prime Minister) Modi fears that Chandrababu Naidu will prevent him from becoming Prime Minister again," he said

Other ministers spoke separately to the media at different places in the state and condemned the arrest warrant issued against their leader.

"Issuing an arrest warrant without even serving prior notices is atrocious. This is hurting the self-respect of Andhra people," Agriculture Minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said.

State TDP president and Energy minister K K V Rao, Urban Development minister P Narayana, Civil Supplies minister P P Rao, were among those condemned the arrest warrant and termed it a witch-hunt by the Centre.

Naidu and others, then in the opposition in the united Andhra Pradesh, had been arrested and lodged in a jail in Pune in connection with the agitation staged by them near the Babli project site in Maharashtra, opposing it on ground that it would affect the people downstream.

All were released later though they did not seek bail.