AP govt taking action on 'quid pro quo' orders

Andhra Pradesh chief minister, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Monday said that necessary action was being taken at the department level with regard to the 26 government orders (GOs) identified by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the source of quid pro quo deals benefiting Kadapa member of Parliament, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and his firms.

“Whatever the government has to do, it is doing on its own. The departments are doing their home work, issuing notices and taking action wherever necessary,” Reddy said when asked whether any action had been initiated to stall the execution of the GOs in the light of the pending cases in the state and also in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had issued notices to six ministers besides several senior IAS officers in connection with their involvement in the issue of the GOs in response to a petition, which had alleged that these people were being intentionally excluded from the investigation. Recently, the CBI had taken into custody one of the six ministers, Mopidevi Venkatramana, in connection with the GOs.

The chief minister said that the apex court issued notices to the six ministers in this regard individually and hence they would submit their responses individually, indicating that the state government would not involve itself in the case at this juncture.

Pointing out that neither the state government nor the Centre or the Congress Party and its president Sonia Gandhi has a role in the arrest of Jagan, he condemned the attempts of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders to blame the government and the party high command in this connection.

“The CBI probe is based on the high court orders and its directions. But Vijayamma (Jagan’s mother) and others are trying to take political advantage of it, which is totally wrong,” he said.

The response to the state-wide shut down call given by YSRCP on Monday in protest against the arrest of Jagan has been partial and peaceful in the light of elaborate security arrangements made by the police and preventive arrests of key party leaders at various places.

Meanwhile, on Monday evening, YSRCP leaders persuaded Vijayamma to withdraw the dharna she started soon after the arrest of her son on Sunday.

Now, in the absence of Jagan, she would be campaigning for the election of YSRCP candidates in the by-polls to 18 Assembly segments and one Parliamentary constituency to be held on June 12.

On the other hand, the Election Commission had allotted the common symbol of fan to all YSRCP candidates.