BJP govt has converted CBI into 'collection bureau': AP CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday accused the BJP-led NDA government of converting the Central Bureau of Investigation into a "collection bureau" and damaging the independence of the Reserve Bank of India.

The state government had recently withdrawn the "general consent" accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct raids and carry out investigations in the state.

"An official of the CBI himself revealed the Prime Ministers Office's interference in the agency's functioning. The official filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the interference of (National Security Adviser) Ajit Doval and the Union Law secretary," the CM said, referring to CBI DIG Manish Kumar Sinha's petition in the apex court levelling allegations against various top functionaries in the Alok Verma case.

A Telugu Desam Party release said Naidu made these remarks during a teleconference with party leaders Wednesday.

Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the TDP supremo accused it of converting the CBI into a 'collection bureau' and damaging the independence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"Rafale is the country's biggest defence scandal. The BJP is pushing the country's security into peril. There is not one great programme that the Modi government has initiated in the 54 months of its rule," he said.

He alleged that the Centre failed in controlling prices of petrol and diesel while the value of rupee depreciated tremendously.

"All this has left the country's economy in shambles while common people are forced to bear undue (financial) burden, leading to a decline in their purchasing capacity," Naidu said.

Naidu, who is striving to bring the opposition parties on a single platform to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, asked the TDP rank and file not to claim that he would become the prime minister.

"I have made AP number one in every aspect. My capabilities should be useful for the state only as I want it to become number one in the world," he said.

The state government withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct raids and carry out investigations in the state due to the recent allegations against the top officials of the country's premier investigation agency, state Deputy Chief Minister (Home) N China Rajappa recently said.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao had alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu government's decision was a "clear malafide exercise of power" to ensure that its "corruption" was not exposed.