Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

`Clemency to Venkat Reddy a fraud on Constitution'

Special Correspondent

Naidu vows to make it a national issue, to meet Prime Minister and President

VENTING THEIR IRE: Telugu Desam activists burning the effigy of Chief Minister in front of Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Wedenesday. — PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and dismissal of Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for committing a "fraud" on the Constitution by their role in granting mercy to Congress leader Gouru Venkata Reddy.

Giving his reaction to the strictures passed against the State Government by the Supreme Court on mercy for Venkata Reddy, Mr. Naidu told reporters here that the Chief Minister and Mr. Shinde had abused their Constitutional powers to benefit a person whose life conviction was confirmed by the apex court.

He also demanded the suspension of the Kurnool Collector and the Superintendent of Police at that time on whose reports the Chief Minister and the then Governor based their recommendation.

National issue

Mr. Naidu vowed to make it a national issue after meeting the President and the Prime Minister with his demands. He would like a national debate on how the gubernatorial post was diluted by Congress Governments to rehabilitate its leaders against the spirit of Sarkaria Commission recommendations. The TDP had always demanded that active politicians should not be given the post.

In a scathing attack against the Chief Minister, he said Dr. Reddy had committed Constitutional impropriety by forwarding the mercy petition with a political motive soon after his wife's election as Congress MLA of Nandikotkur in Kurnool. In fact, Dr. Reddy also met the convict in jail as Leader of the Opposition and signed the parole even before his Council of Ministers was formed.

Dr. Reddy forcibly extracted reports from the District Collector and SP and referred it to Mr. Shinde without verifying the contents. He also influenced Mr. Shinde to accept these reports which were full of grammatical mistakes.

TDP demonstration

The Telugu Desam supporters blocked traffic opposite Raj Bhavan by staging a demonstration in the afternoon. They staged a sit-in and even tried to burn two effigies, one representing the Governor and the other the Chief Minister.

The police made a determined bid to see they were not burnt and indeed succeeded in tearing apart the effigies. After a scuffle with the uniformed men, the agitators burnt the remaining part.

Meanwhile, another group held up the traffic by squatting across the road. The police were clearly taken off guard as they did not anticipate trouble.

The police took into custody the senior leaders -- Nagam Janardhan Reddy, Alladi Raj Kumar, E. Dayakar Rao and G. Sayanna -- but the crowd did not allow the vehicles by which they were being taken.

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