TDP MLC Deepak Reddy on Thursday alleged that the Jagan government had asked him to be in official quarantine after he was tested positive for the coronavirus at the tests conducted outside the Assembly. But he was tested negative twice in RT-PCR tests conducted in Hyderabad, he said. The two conflicting reports have not only raised doubts over the veracity of the tests, but also spawned a new theory of political conspiracy.

The corona tests conducted on TDP leader Deepak Reddy has sparked a fresh political row with TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu accusing the YSRCP government of conducting “false COVID-19 tests” on its party leaders and sending them for official quarantine to settle political scores.

Naidu took to his Twitter handle to take on the ruling party. “The false covid-tests exposed the ugly side of the government, that the government can stoop to any level to settle political scores. The AP government gave a report saying that Deepak Reddy tested positive and asked him to be in official quarantine immediately. The YSRCP regime is using COVID-19 tests for taking political vengeance. It is a cheap trick played on the part of the government,” Naidu lambasted.

TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh too expressed doubts over the efficacy of the corona tests being conducted by the Jagan government. “If the government can play tricks on an MLC this way, we can expect how negligent the government can be with the common people,” he said on his Twitter. Lokesh had posted the two Covid-19 test reports of Deepak Reddy on his Twitter, one report showing positive, the other negative.