HYDERABAD: The issue of slain gangster Nayeem’s alleged hobnobbing with politicos and ex-ministers is gradually taking political colour.
The ruling TRS alleged that the gangster was nurtured by the TDP in the erstwhile united state to settle political scores, whereas the yellow party, backed by the Congress and the BJP, denied the same, swiftly.
A day after the leak given by police that the deceased former Naxalite had connections with a former minister from Nalgonda district, TDP leader A Uma Madhava Reddy, widow of the then home minister A Madhava Reddy, on Thursday cried foul and dismissed the allegations that her family had links with Nayeem.
Addressing mediapersons along with her son Sandeep Reddy at her residence here, the former minister saw a big political conspiracy behind the “selective” leak given by the police.
The TDP leader, who belongs to influential Reddy community in the state, alleged that her family’s name was intentionally dragged into the issue only to defame her social class. She demanded a judicial probe to dig deep into Nayeem’s past.
“I have been using the same phone number ever since my husband Madhava Reddy was assassinated. The government can get the call data and find out whether I spoke to Nayeem. The ruling TRS, in order to shield top leaders, is dragging my family’s name into this issue,” she challenged.
Holding Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao responsible for dragging her name into the Nayeem issue, Uma Madhava Reddy said, “If proven guilty, I am ready to go to jail.”
Uma’s son Sandeep Reddy demanded that the government make Nayeem’s diary public to ascertain facts.
Soon after Uma Madhava Reddy’s press conference, TDP Telangana working president A Revanth Reddy held another media conference and accused the state government of pursuing a ‘political vendetta’ against Madhava Reddy’s family.
Later, BJP leader and senior politico Nallu Indrasena Reddy alleged that police, with the backing of the state, had eliminated Nayeem as he had “threatened some ministers and TRS leaders over land-related issues.” He sought a CBI probe into the entire episode.
Congress too attacked the ruling TRS over Nayeem’s issue. Joining chorus with BJP’s Indrasena Reddy, former MP Madhu Yashki Goud said, “Nayeem was killed against the backdrop of land settlements by TRS leaders. Hence, CBI probe should be ordered into the issue.”
Meanwhile, indirectly backing the TRS government, the YSRC demanded that all the names of leaders, who were associated with gangster Nayeem, be made public. “With police revealing that a TDP minister was very close to Nayeem and the gangster flourished during the party’s rule, it is imperative that the then Chandrababu Naidu government promoted the gangster for political gains. It was that party which fostered and used Nayeem as a political tool to settle scores,” party spokesperson and Andhra leader K Parthasarathi said.