The early morning arrest of Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu by the state police in connection with the Rs 371 crore Andhra Pradesh skill development corporation scam has naturally evoked sharp criticism from his party leaders and supporters.
Surprisingly, Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), a conglomeration of over 30 opposition parties across the country, including the Congress, has come out with a tweet strongly condemning the arrest of Naidu.
“DEMOCRACY is backsliding. We stand with Chandrababu Naidu. When dictatorship is a fact, revolution will become a right. It’s just a matter of time!” the tweet from the official handle of I.N.D.I.A on X (former twitter) said, hours after the arrest of Naidu.
The tweet also has hashtags: #WeWillStandWithCBNSir, #ChandrababuNaidu and #StopIllegalArrestOfCBN.
The statement is surprising because Naidu has not been part of the I.N.D.I.A and was not invited to the meeting of the opposition parties. Moreover, the TDP chief has been vigorously pursuing an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, though the latter has not been entertaining his overtures.
Communist Party of India state secretary K Rama Krishna also condemned the arrest of Naidu in a midnight operation. “If there is really a case, he should be served prior notice. Why should the police create so much hungama?” he asked. He also criticized the arrests of Lokesh and other TDP leaders.
What is more interesting is that even the BJP has condemned the arrest of Naidu. Though there was no reaction from the BJP national leadership, Andhra Pradesh BJP president Daggubati Purandeshwari was quick to condemn the arrest of Naidu.
She said the state police had arrested Naidu without following the proper procedure and giving proper notice in advance. In fact, his name was not mentioned in the FIR at all and the police had not bothered to at least take his explanation in the case.
BJP national secretary Y Satya Kumar also strongly opposed Naidu’s arrest. “When a person is arrested as per the law, there must be a reasonable cause and certain procedures must be followed. Otherwise, one has to think that it is an act of partisanship or to satisfy a perverse mentality. But do the old criminals on bail know these things?” he tweeted.
