Enforcement Directorate (ED) has cleared Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu of any involvement in the alleged misuse of funds in the Skill Development case. This revelation comes as a major setback to the former YSRCP government’s claims.
The ED’s recent press note, while announcing the seizure of assets from some companies, clarified that neither Chandrababu Naidu nor the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had any connection to the shell companies involved in the fund diversion. This effectively amounts to a clean chit for Chandrababu Naidu, who has been at the center of this controversy last year.
The midnight arrest of Chandrababu Naidu in Kurnool, which made headlines last year, now appears to have been premature. The CID, led by then-chief Sanjay and Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, had claimed that shell companies linked to Chandrababu Naidu were involved. However, they failed to provide any concrete evidence during the entire investigation.
The case took an interesting turn when electoral funds came under scrutiny. Despite allegations, it was revealed that none of the companies mentioned in the Skill Development case had made donations to the TDP. This further weakened the prosecution’s case.
The ED’s focus seems to be more on tax evasion through fake invoices by certain companies, rather than any direct involvement of politicians.
-Sanyogita
