Naidu in a fix over I-T notice
The development has come as a political weapon for the YSR Congress Party to corner him at a time when elections are nearing
N Chandrababu Naidu
Vijayawada The notice issued by the Income Tax Department to TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu has put him on a sticky wicket at a time when he is trying to forge an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The development has come as a political weapon for the YSR Congress Party to corner him at a time when elections are nearing. However, Naidu immediately refuted the allegations of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 118 crore and counter-alleged that the YSRCP was trying to embarrass him. He also tried to garner sympathy by saying that he may be arrested anytime for no fault of his. Both Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh are now on a pre-poll campaign trail.
It may be mentioned here that Naidu who exited NDA in 2018 in protest against denial of Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh recently after submitting a representation to the Election Commission of India on electoral roll preparation, clarified that he had no differences with the BJP leadership and his walking out from NDA alliance was to register protest against denial of SCS.
The silence of BJP, mainly its State president Daggubati Purandeswari on the noitce came up for severe criticism by YSRCP general secretary and Government Advisor (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy. “The Income Department is under the Government of India and the notice of unaccounted amount was issued to Naidu after gathering evidence. We hope the Enforcement Directorate will soon arrest him for receiving the graft money,” he told the media at Tadepalli during an interaction.
After carrying out searches on the premises of Manoj Vasudev Pardasany, who brokered deals for a big company, the Income Tax Department, served a 40-page notice seeking reasons as to why they should not proceed further for receiving unaccounted money to the tune of Rs 118 crore.
