ED’s clean chit to Chandrababu Naidu: ‘We knew it,’ says TDP
Naidu spent 53 days in jail last year in an alleged Rs 371-crore Skill Development Corporation scam investigated by ED; he joined the BJP-led NDA subsequently
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has welcomed the Enforcement Directorate’s finding that party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had no role in the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.
Naidu on Tuesday (October 15) received a clean chit from the ED in the alleged Rs 371-crore scam which had led to his arrest and 53 days in jail last year.
The case
The Skill Development Corporation was an entity created by Naidu’s government between 2014 and 2019. Alleging that funds to the tune of Rs 371 crore had been mismanaged, the then Jagan government launched an investigation into the scam, which finally led to the arrest of Naidu in 2023. Naidu spent 53 days in Judicial custody before he was released on bail on October 31, 2023. Subsequently, he joined the BJP-led NDA and returned to power in the state in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.
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Based on the FIR filed by the state CID, the ED initiated an inquiry under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On Tuesday, the ED attached assets worth Rs 23.5 crore belonging to promoters of Design Tech Pvt Ltd and others. And the chargesheet filed by the ED in this connection has not mentioned the name of Chandrababu Naidu.
TDP lying, says YSRCP
This clearly shows that Naidu had no involvement in the alleged scam, said the party’s state spokesperson Varla Ramaiah. “What we have been reiterating has been proved beyond doubt. We are happy that the ED has finally acknowledged this. Neither Naidu nor his family members have any connection with the alleged Skill Development Corporation scam,” Ramaiah told The Federal.
However, the YSRCP said the ED clean chit was a fake news spread by TDP. “When the ED attached the assets of a company involved in the Skill Development Corporation scam, how could the TDP say there was no scam? The ED’s attachment has established that there was a scam in the transaction and money laundering did take place. TDP is spreading lies to divert people’s attention,” said Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, senior party leader and former adviser to Jaganmohan Reddy.