Chandrababu Naidu’s failure to reply to IT notices, proves his guilt in the Rs.108 crore scam,” says Amarnath

The Industries Minister said that ₹118 crore was only the tip of the iceberg and alleged that thousands of crores of rupees of public money was siphoned off by the former Chief Minister.

Andhra Pradesh Minister for Industries and IT Gudivada Amarnath has said that the failure of former Chief Minister and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu to either reply to the notices served by the Income Tax Department, or to even deny them “indicate his involvement in the scam”.

Addressing a media conference, in Visakhapatnam on September 4, Mr. Amarnath said that the IT Department has issued show cause notices to Mr. Naidu asking him to account for ₹118 crore allegedly as kickbacks. Mr. Amarnath alleged that instead of replying to their queries, Mr. Naidu wrote four letters to them asking the officials irrelevant questions like: whether anyone told his name, whether anyone had spoken of his involvement in the case and telling them that his name was not mentioned in their enquiry and that the case was outside their jurisdiction.

The investigating officials have now replied to his letters saying that Mr. Naidu’s PA and long time associate Srinivas had spoken of receiving the money on his (Mr. Naidu’s) behalf through various contracts including construction of TIDCO houses and construction of the High Court building. The ₹118 crore ill-gotten money included ‘Dirhams’ (received from Dubai).

The Industries Minister said that ₹118 crore was only the tip of the iceberg and alleged that thousands of crores of rupees of public money was siphoned off by the former Chief Minister. He alleged that in the name of establishing Skill Development Centres, Mr. Naidu had made a fake agreement with Siemens, a reputed German company, and withdrew ₹350 crore from the State Treasury and had siphoned off the money. In the name of Amaravati, the TDP government had indulged in land scam, he alleged.

“Now, the TDP could no longer say that the State government or the YSRCP was doing all this with vengeance, as the IT Department has come out with strong evidence. The Minister alleged that Mr. Naidu’s rise in politics, his amassing assets and his involvement in the Yeleru scam after he became Chief Minister in 1995 was known to everyone. He never grew up in politics on his own merit but came through backstabbing and “backdoor politics”. He talks of high morals and makes tall claims but evades replies to the notices sent by the IT Department,” the minister alleged.

Mr. Amarnath sought that the Central investigation agencies like the Enforcement Directorate should also involve in the case as foreign currency (Dirhams) was also involved in the case.