Naidu denies Cong. charge of horsetrading

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 27. ``They cannot expect Gandhi Bhavan's problems to be solved in NTR Bhavan.''

This was how the Telugu Desam reacted to the stinging letter the Pradesh Congress president, Mr. M. Satyanarayana Rao, wrote to its president, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, about the yawning gap between his ``precept and practice'' regarding value-based politics in the context of the election of chairman of the Ranga Reddy Zilla Parishad tomorrow.

Mr. Rao's letter figured during the brief meeting Mr. Naidu had with party seniors at the NTR Bhavan here on Friday. Mr. Naidu dashed off his reply denying allegations of horse-trading and role of his Ministers or leaders in the alleged detention of Mr. K. Bhasker, ZPTC member of Ranga Reddy district, belonging to the Congress.

In his reply, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu reiterated his party's commitment to ethics, transparency and probity in public life, value-based politics in practice, as demonstrated in ``our actions in various ZP issues. It was unfair to attribute your party's internal problems and some ZPTC member's behaviour or actions in Ranga Reddy district to our party or our Ministers.'' The TDP, he assured Mr. Rao, was neither interested or involved in power politics in Ranga Reddy district or elsewhere. It was committed to democratic principles and traditions in letter and spirit. He had asked the police to act promptly in the case of Mr. Bhasker as per law.

At a press conference, Mr. Lal Jan Basha, general secretary, and Mr. R. Chandrasekhar Reddy, spokesman, condemned the Congress attempts to blame the Telugu Desam for its internal problems. The Congress would instead do well to set its own house in order.

The PCC president said Mr. Naidu shouted from house-tops about value-based politics, but stood exposed by the manner in which the TDP ``betrayed its criminality'' by luring Congress members and offering vice-chairmanship to one of them.

Mr. Satyanarayana Rao dwelt at length on the Bhasker affair, saying the TDP held him captive. The Ministers sought to use ``brute strength'' to intimidate or even cajole Mr. Bhasker. The Congress was orgsanising dharnas ``to highlight degeneration of politics under your regime and unabashedly practised by your Ministers.'' He rounded off the letter with an appeal to Mr. Naidu to free Mr. Bhasker.

Meanwhile, bandh was observed in Ranga Reddy district to mark the party's protest against the ``intimidation and inducement'' of Congress members by the TDP.

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