Accusing the YSRCP government of trying to corner him with a CID case for allegedly highlighting ‘morphed’ videos, TDP senior leader Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao on Sunday dared the authorities to arrest him ‘if they had the conviction about his involvement in the case’.
Addressing the media during his campaign for the Tirupati Lok Sabha bypoll, Mr. Uma Maheswara Rao said he had only revealed the intention of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on various issues and insisted that ‘it would not amount to morphing’.
The video in question shows the Chief Minister making a speech, in which the latter purportedly said ‘literate people would not wish to live in a place like Tirupati, given the pace of development in the temple town during the TDP regime’.
The video went viral before the ruling party and the State government took note of it.
“We only showed the CM’s perspective on Tirupati, how does it amount to morphing?” questioned Mr. Uma Maheswara Rao.
He also accused the CID of abusing the law by using irrelevant sections of law against him in the case, pointing out that ‘nowhere the word morphed had been used’.
‘A letdown’
The former Minister also flayed the State administration for being ‘incapable and indifferent’ for having agreed to bring the irrigation projects to the State under the purview of the Krishna River Management Board (KMRB), which he said was ‘a letdown’.
“With this move, the YSRCP government has severely compromised on the interests of the State and its farmers,” he said.