On 20 November 2023, the Telugu Desam Party celebrated the “regular” bail granted to TDP chief, N Chandrababu Naidu in the “Andra Pradesh Skill Development Scam”.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court judgement in favour of the TDP leader, converted his “interim” conditional bail into a “regular” bail, citing a lack of evidence for his alleged role in the scam and incoherent arguments by the ruling YSRCP government, which had arrested Naidu on claims of alleged corruption during the TDP government’s 2014-19 administration of the state.
The High Court judgement will have major political impact in the state, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for the first half of next year (approximately six months away or lesser). The High Court bench headed by Justice Tallapragada Mallikarjun Rao, stated that Mr. Naidu was entitled to a “regular” bail, without restrictions on his political activities.
Previously, on October 31, he was granted a four-week “interim” bail on medical grounds, with restrictions on his direct or indirect interference in the investigation of the alleged scam as well as political activities. In a thorough 39-page verdict, the High Court bench headed by Justice Rao, alluded to the fact that the YSRCP government included Naidu as an accused, only after almost two years, from when the alleged case for misappropriation of funds was first registered.
The bench also pointed out that neither Naidu nor his leaders had interfered in the investigation process of the alleged “scam” before or after his name was included as an accused in the case. The TDP politburo considers this judgement as further proof of what the TDP, other Opposition parties and the general public in the state, have been saying for the past two months – that there is no real basis for the “Skill Development scam” as alleged by Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP government and that the ruling party was looking for an excuse to arrest the leader of the Opposition to damage his reputation as well as restrict his political activities, ahead of the state elections, next year.
The TDP also claims that the arrest of Naidu was meant to distract the people of the state from Jagan Reddy’s more than thirty CBI-investigated cases, from which he is currently out on bail. With the conversion of the previous interim bail to a regular one, Naidu is now free to lead his party from the frontline, make political decisions and act on them, organize meetings and fundraisers, conduct political rallies, meet with political leaders and friends etc.
The septuagenarian leader’s surprise, dramatic, midnight arrest from a wedding venue on September 9, caused a stir in the Andhra and Telangana political circles and his previously granted interim bail on health grounds, on October 31, had attracted massive crowds of ordinary people, waiting for several hours just to get a glimpse of him and convey their sympathies.
Analysts claim that the TDP party, currently in the opposition, has gained sizeable political ground in Andhra Pradesh and is aiming at acquiring the winning numbers in the early-2024 state elections. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its ally, the Jana Sena Party (JSP) claim that, Naidu’s arrest on “bogus” charges have a basis in current CM Y S Jagan Reddy’s political vendetta and the YSRCP’s fear of losing next year’s state elections.
The TDP party sees the A.P High Court’s judgement as a win for their leader against the false accusations on him, made by their arch political rival, desperate to restrict or curb the TDP’s recent political growth and popularity. The party has openly declared that their leader would be proved innocent in the “skill development case” as well as any other case, that the Jagan Reddy government is intent on falsely charging Naidu with.
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