Nara Lokesh, TDP MPs meet President Murmu, complain about "illegal" arrest of Chandrababu Naidu

New Delhi [India], September 26 (ANI): The TDP national general secretary, Nara Lokesh, accompanied by some of the party MPs, called on President Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtapathi Bhavan on Tuesday and brought to her notice the illegal arrest of the party supremo Chandrababu Naidu, and informed her that the voice of the Opposition is being stifled using the State machinery.
In two separate letters one signed by Nara Lokesh and the other signed by the party MPs, they told the President that though no evidence has been found, Chandrababu Naidu has been taken into custody only to sling mud at him. They produced the information available to them and also the evidence to support their arguments.

Making an appeal to the President of India to uphold the democratic values in Andhra Pradesh, Lokesh and the MPs, Kesineni Naani, Kanakamedal Ravindra Kumar, Galla Jayadev and Ram Mohan Naidu requested her to stand by the people of Andhra Pradesh to ensure that their Constitutional rights are protected. "Your action in this matter will undoubtedly reinforce the faith of the citizens in the democratic institutions of the nation," they said in their letters.
In the five-page letter, they said that the Skill Development scam is a fabricated one as there is absolutely no evidence of the involvement of Chandrababu and no evidence of a money trail connecting him or his family members.
"The names of the officers, Premchandra Reddy, then managing director of the APSSDC and Kallam Ajay Reddy, then Finance secretary and chief advisor to the Chief Minister who were the authorised signatories for the release of funds in this project are surprisingly missing from the FIR," the letter read. 
Also, suspicions arose from the shared IP address between the forensic auditor in the case and the auditor of the companies owned by the Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, cast doubt on the audit's objectivity, they said in their letters. Additionally, the same forensic auditor was instructed not to verify assets physically at the Skill Development sites, they mentioned their letters.
They also said in the letters the evasion of tax by companies connected to DesignTech should not implicate the government of Andhra Pradesh as the tax matters are the responsibility of the companies, not the government.
Significantly, Chandrababu's contribution to skill development reflected in AP's top rank in 2016, 2018 and 2019 and second rank in 2017 providing jobs to 80,000 students, they said.
Understandably the arrest of such a distinguished statesman has incited outrage not only within the global Telugu diaspora but also among the wider business, political and civic community, they said in their letters.
"If a leader of such a vision and character can be treated in such an unjust and unfair manner what incentives are we creating as a political system to attract the best of our youth to serve our nation," Lokesh and the MPs said in their separate letters. (ANI)