VIJAYAWADA: Upping the ante in the data ‘theft’ row between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday came up with ‘evidence’ to buttress his argument that the case was a result of ‘Maha Kutra’ (mega conspiracy) by the Opposition YSR Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and BJP. At a media conference here, Naidu showed a copy of the representation given by YSRC Rajya Sabha MP V Vijaya Sai Reddy to the Election Commission of India on February 19 as evidence to buttress his claim that the alleged data theft case was a conspiracy by YSRC, TRS and BJP against AP.
Page Nos 28 and 29 of Vijaya Sai Reddy’s representation, which are about ‘talking points’ on Seva Mitra app, ‘modus operandi’ and ‘plan of action’ to go forward in the alleged data theft case to corner the State government, ‘revealed’ the conspiracy. While submitting the representation to the ECI, the YSRC MP had mistakenly attached the two pages to it, Naidu claimed.
“This is Maha Kutra. This is beyond imagination. This conspiracy is much bigger than that of (what is shown in) blockbuster Baahubali,” Naidu said. The ‘plan of action’ included getting an FIR registered, seizure of ‘stolen’ data and cellphones/email communication between the directors of IT Grids India Pvt Ltd and Bluefrog Mobile Technologies Pvt Ltd (the two companies which are under the scanner for the alleged data theft) and State ministers and officials, disabling TDP’s Seva Mitra app, seeking CBI probe into the alleged data theft through court and others. Page No 29 had contained points for search in the IT Grids office, Naidu said.
The TDP chief claimed that the ‘plan of action’ was being executed by the TRS government. As per the plan, Telangana police raided the office of IT Grids in Hyderabad on February 23. Cyberabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar addressed a press conference on February 25 pertaining to the alleged data theft. A case was registered on March 2.
Another case was registered in SR Nagar police station on March 3. Another press meet was addressed by the Cyberabad Commissioner of Police the next day. Sajjanar said that they would seek information from UIDAI, ECI and others pertaining to the data theft case. This was also mentioned in the ‘plan of action’, Naidu said.
‘Naidu leaked news of evidence of data theft’
Though a case pertaining to data theft was registered on March 2, TS police raided the IT Grids office on Feb 23 night itself and the same was admitted by SIT chief Stephen Raveendra, Naidu added.
However, the YSRC made light of the ‘evidence’ cited by Naidu. “What is wrong in giving a ‘plan of action’ along with the representation? Naidu leaked the news of evidence pertaining to the alleged data theft in the morning and finally came up with nothing,” YSRC leader and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said.
“Naidu is trying to divert the issue to get himself bailed out of the vote-for-note case,” he alleged and asked how Seva Mitra app of the TDP had the data of 3.5 crore voters in the State instead of 50 lakh party workers as being claimed.
Most of Form-7s uploaded from neighbouring States: SIT
In a significant development in the investigation of 322 cases registered for filing Form-7 for deletion of votes, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) found that most of the applications were submitted to the AP Chief Electoral Officer online from various parts of Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. SIT chief K Satyanarayana said the investigation into the filing of Form-7 for deletion of votes, is being conducted in a transparent manner. The investigating officers have approached the C-DAC regarding IP addresses from where Form-7s were uploaded. We are expecting to get the requisite information soon, he said.