TDP seeks Centre's intervention on cases against its MLAs

Hyderabad, Apr 17 (UNI) Staging a dharna here today in protest against alleged foisting of cases against five of its MLAs, the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party(TDP) today demanded that the Centre must intervene and stop the alleged ''unconstitutional acts'' of the Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh.

Making it clear that the TDP would not not be cowed down by ''crude methods to prevent the opposition from raising the alleged Rs 400 crore fraud in the award of the Sripadasagar Project'', party Legislature Party Deputy leaders N Janardhan Reddy and T Devender Goud, who were among the accused, asserted that they would prove their charges and expose the Government in a court of law.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi should immediately intervene, Mr Reddy demanded.

''We will take the stir to New Delhi'', Mr Goud said even as Party General Secretary K Srihari called for a national debate on the ''unhealthy'' trend of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government of allegedly causing friction between the Executive and Legislature.

Former Minister K Vijayarama Rao, also the former CBI chief, wondered how the government could charge the five with hatching a criminal conspiracy by raising a question in the Assembly. If this was true, action should be taken against all those present in the Assembly in that day for allegedly ''remaining silent and becoming coconspirators'', he claimed.

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