C

Get rid of the erring AP Ministers

       Expose `God Fathers’ to corrupt ministers in Congress High Command

Open letter to Hon’ble Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi

Hyderabad,

Dt 20-8-2012

Respected Madam Smt. Soniaji,

We are extremely disturbed with the state of affairs of Congress party and its government in Andhra Pradesh, which has been providing crucial strength at the Center enabling continuance of Congress-led UPA government since more than eight years. The party became silent spectator when several ministers are getting caught on the wrong side of the law and the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is expected to take urgent steps to protect interests of the party, remains nonchalant.

On the one hand the sins of the past are coming to haunt many of his Cabinet colleagues while on the other some more members are causing fresh trouble and landing the government in an embarrassing position.

While one minister, Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao, had already been arrested (in the disproportionate assets case related to Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy) and forced to quit the Cabinet, another minister for roads and buildings Dharmana Prasada Rao is also charge sheeted in the same case.

The CBI’s 177-page charge sheet, citing around 280 documents besides statements of witnesses, confined to the irregularities in the implementation of the multi-thousand crore Vadrevu and Nizampatnam Ports & Industrial Corridor (VANPIC), a proposed world-class port and an integrated industrial cluster, in Prakasam and Guntur districts. The Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government had allotted more than 25,000 acres in 2008 for the project. While Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao was the minister for infrastructure and ports, Dharmana Prasada Rao was holding the portfolio of revenue during the YSR cabinet.

In its latest charge sheet, the CBI charged Dharmana Prasada Rao and the officials with signing the controversial government order pertaining to allotment of land and giving other sops to the VANPIC project, which was executed by noted industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad of Matrix Enport Holdings Private Limited in association with Ras Al Khaimah, one of the emirates in the UAE.

As a quid pro quo gesture for granting the project, Nimmagadda Prasad made huge investment of Rs.842 crore in various companies of Jagan Mohan Reddy, including Rs.450 crore in Jagathi Publications, the media venture that brings out Sakshi daily, Rs.252 crore in Bharati Cements, Rs.32 crore in Sandur Power Company Limited, Rs.20 crore in Carmel Asia Holdings Ltd and Rs.28 crore in Silicon Builders.

The minister is now facing several charges under IPC, including criminal conspiracy (120-B), criminal breach of trust by a public servant (409), cheating (419 and 420), forgery for the purpose of cheating (468), using as genuine a forged document which is known to be forged (471), falsification of accounts (477A), and under sections 9,11,13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Besides, this case being investigated by the CBI, there are several allegations of corrupt practices adopted by DharmanaPrasada Rao and his family members involving large scale irregularities valued several hundreds of crores of rupees, to gain huge properties for himself and his family members.

Four more ministers – J Geeta Reddy, P Sabita Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Kanna Lakshminarayana – are sitting with their fingers crossed, anxiously awaiting the outcome of the CBI probe in Jaganmohan Reddy's case as well as the iron ore illegal mining case (against mining mafia kingpin Gali Janardhan Reddy). These four ministers are under the CBI scanner in these cases and there is apprehension that they too may meet the same fate as their other two colleagues.

The Supreme Court issued notices in March, 2012, to all these six Ministers, besides 8 senior IAS officers from Andhra Pradesh on a petition alleging that the CBI was not proceeding against them despite having sufficient evidence that they helped Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy accumulate massive illegal assets.  A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra issued the notices and sought their stands on the petition filed by an advocate hailing from Nellore district, who alleged that 26 Government Orders were issued by them in violation of the law. All of whom held important portfolios even in the erstwhile Cabinet of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy when the controversial orders were issued.

We are unable to understand that why Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy keeping silence even after 10 days of resignation submitted by Dharmana Prasada Rao (on August 14). It may be recalled that all these ministers have been facing probe for their alleged corrupt practices. None of them are now facing trouble by working to strengthen the party and government in the state, or struggling hard to the welfare of the people.

All of them are known colluding with those who attempted to loot the public money for their vested interests. In the process they were allegedly earned hundreds of crores of rupees worth illegal properties. This has been bringing dis-reputation to the Congress party and resulting in weakening of the party in Andhra Pradesh. The only way to restore confidence of the people towards the party and its government is by acting firmly against all those who were involved in various illegal activities and removing them from the cabinet.

To hide themselves from criminal investigation and prosecution, we are surprised to note that these ministers are putting forward constitutional provision under Article 163, claiming that the CBI had 'no locus standi' to book ministers for what they called 'collective cabinet decisions'. Very recently, at least two senior ministers openly admitted that the points figured in the agenda that approved by the cabinet during Y S Rajasekhara Reddy regime were entirely different from the GOs issued later by the government.However, CBI alleging that the decisions taken by those ministers while in office with criminal conspiracy, some times crossing the limitations of cabinet decisions.

The former minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramna Rao, who lost his post after being arrested by the CBI, as a minister had signed the file giving effect to the alienation of land to the Vanpic project. He is now facing charges under Sections 120-B, 420, 209, 427-A of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Not counting the allegations earlier he warded off in the liquor syndicate scam.

Besides these ministers involved in disproportionate assets case against Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, several other ministers were also involved on wrong side of the law.

The secondary education minister K Parthasarathy has been convicted and awarded a two-month jail term in a FERA violation case (though the sentence has since been kept under suspension by the upper court). The same minister is now facing a case under the Representation of People Act for filing a false affidavit during his election in 2004 and 2009.

The Special Court for Economic Offences in Hyderabad found the Minister, guilty in a case relating to violation of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) provisions. The special court also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on a city-based firm KPR Tele Products Ltd, of which Parthasarathy was managing director, and also directed him to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 after finding him guilty of non-payment of penalty imposed by Enforcement Directorate (ED) and for violation of FERA provisions.

Besides this conviction, the minister facing another grave violation of the law for concealing the fact that a FERA violation case was pending against him since 1999, when he was managing director of KPR Tele Products, while contesting elections in 2004 and 2009. The Election Commission directed the Krishna district Collector and Election Officer to register a case against him for filing an "inaccurate affidavit" during the 2009 Assembly elections concealing the fact that he was charge sheeted in a FERA violation case.

In his 2004 affidavit, where he was supposed to list the criminal case which was pending at the time, he left the relevant form blank, while in 2009, he wrote 'nil' and 'not applicable' in the relevant column, sources said.

The Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy has already been questioned by the CBI about the mining leases granted to Gali Janardhan Reddy, when she was the mines minister during the regime of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. While the then mining secretary Y Srilakshmi has taken the rap for giving those leases, criticism continues to be levelled against Sabita because it all happened under her watch.

That’s not all against Sabita Reddy. She also faces allegations from former minister P Shankar Rao that her supporters attacked him on December 20, 2011 when he visited a colony in Maheshwaram mandal, represented by her in the Assembly. Shankar Rao described her as a “lady don” and said she took bribes to give postings in her department.

The minor irrigation minister T G Venkatesh landed in a controversy for saying that non-performing bureaucrats should be shot dead. A retired IAS officer has filed a criminal case against Venkatesh for making “inflammatory and provocative” statements. The complaint filed with the Medchal police says the minister’s statement attract criminal liability under Sections 189 and 124 A, read with Sections 107, 115, 503 and 511 of Indian Penal Code.

The labour minister Danam Nagender courted controversy by locking up the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Banjara Hills of Hyderabad and abusing policemen on August 8. He faces criminal charges under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 342 (wrongful restraint), 353 (preventing public servant from discharging duties), 427 (mischief causing damage), 504 (intentionally insulting to breach peace) and 506 (criminalintimidation) of the IPC.

The Tourism Minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar got into a crap over protocol issues with Denduluru MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakara Rao of the TDP during a Rachchabanda show in November, last year. The TDP MLA allegedly punched the minister in the stomach and received a tight slap in exchange. They went on to push and shove each as the public watched. Based on a complaint form the TDP MLA, a case was booked against the minister under sections 323 and 506 of the IPC. The minister too had a complaint filed against the MLA.

The law minister Erasu Prathap Reddy name was figured in the cash-for-bail episode involving a lower court judge. Accused judge K. Lakshmnarasimha Rao, arrested in the cash-for-bail case, has sent a petition to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and the High Court, the AP Human Rights Commission and others stating that he had been abused and manhandled by ACB officials at the time of his arrest. He also said that law minister Erasu Pratap Reddy was not being probed by the ACB in the case despite evidence against him. The AP High Court admitted his plea.

The PCC President and Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana faces allegations in connection with the liquor syndicate scam. The revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy fended off allegations of misuse of public money for cloud-seeding.

Honourable Congress President Smt. Soniaji, these incidents reveals that how cabinet ministers in Andhra Pradesh have been locked in reckless corrupt practices damaging party interests. There are widespread notions in the political circles here that these corrupt ministers have succeeded in cultivating God Fathers in the Congress high-command by bribing them half of their illegally secured wealth, so that getting a shield of protection to continue in the seat of power.

The presence of such ministers who were caught on wrong side amounts to challenge the very basic ideology and policies of the Congress Party. We felt Congress party should not allow them to continue in power till they get rid of all allegations from the Court of Law. We request you to act immediately in this regard and take necessary action so that to protect the party interests in Andhra Pradesh, which would helpful to save the very existence of the Congress-led UPA government at the center.

With warm regards,

K Ravi Kumar,

General Secretary-Central Committee