YSRCP General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP V. Vijay Sai Reddy lashed out at the ruling TDP government in Andhra, and demanded a CBI probe into the land scam in Visakhapatnam.
Hitting out against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh, Reddy called the Special Investigation Team (SIT) 'an attempt to dilute the case.'
The state had formed an SIT consisting of Police, Revenue and Law Department officials, to look into the scam, on June 11.
He also said that the ruling government had turned Vizag, often known as the 'steel city', into the 'stolen city'.
The Hindu quoted him saying that attempts were being made to grab more land in Visakhapatnam district under the garb of the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS), adding that the YSRCP would come to power in 2019, and send the TDP leaders involved to jail.
Reddy was addressing the media, a day before party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's plans to organise a 'Maha Dharna' in Visakhapatnam, demanding a CBI probe on the scam.
The scam deals with several allegations of tampering records and encroachments over several acres of land, with more than 100 complainants from across the district.
The scam is reported to involve more than 1,000 acres of land in Madhurawada and Kommadi areas of Visakhapatnam, and has kicked up a political storm in the state since it came to light.
Besides giving ample fodder to the YSRCP, the scam also exposed a rift within the TDP’s state cabinet, as state HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao wrote to Naidu, against R&B Minister Ayyanna Patrudu.
Ganta demanded a thorough probe by the CID or the CBI into the scam, after Patrudu had hinted Ganta's involvement in the scam.
On Wednesday, Ayyanna addressed media persons, and hit out at the criticism that the TDP was facing and also questioned Jagan's motives.
"If the opposition parties YSRCP, Congress, CPI and CPM have skills, they should prove the involvement of TDP leaders by providing the names and the survey numbers of the lands that were defrauded. Why is Jagan Reddy staging a dharna on Thursday? Had we not initiated an inquiry over the lands or if inquiry was partial, they should have gone for a dharna demanding justice. But even before the inquiry, they are planning for a dharna. This means they have no interest in the SIT inquiry, which consists of sincere officers," he was quoted as saying.
Speaking about the investigation, Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had earlier said, "I want to take action against the culprits at the earliest. If the scam is entrusted to the CBI it would take two decades for the completion of the investigation. You give me evidence today, I will take action tomorrow."