In the wake of the arrest of TDP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in an alleged multi-crore corruption case, a wave of support has emerged from both domestic and international quarters, questioning the legality of his detention.
Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of global technology company Zoho, expressed his astonishment over Naidu's arrest on Sunday. Vembu, who has had interactions with Naidu and acknowledged his efforts to attract companies like Zoho to Andhra Pradesh, posted on X (formerly Twitter): "I was shocked to read that Chandrababu Naidu-ji was arrested yesterday. I hope justice prevails."
However, Naidu's arrest did not go unnoticed by his party's supporters, who had planned a one-day fast to protest his detention. Unfortunately, these protests were met with police intervention in locations such as Kanigiri in Prakasam district, Srikalahasti in Tirupati district, and Kovvuru in East Godavari district.
In a show of solidarity from overseas, the Telugu Desam Party shared videos of its supporters protesting Naidu's arrest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the British Parliament in London.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is currently on a 10-day personal visit to London and is expected to return to the state on Monday.
On the other side of the spectrum, senior YSRCP leader and Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy raised questions about why Naidu should not be arrested for his alleged involvement in several scams. He cited a range of irregularities, including the AP-CRDA scam, AP-FibreNet scam, AP Skill Development scam, Amaravati land scam, ESI medical purchases scam, cash-for-votes scam in 2016, and the call money scam, among others.
Naidu's arrest stemmed from his alleged role in a multi-core Skill Development Corporation scam and led to his appearance in an Anti-Corruption Bureau court in Vijayawada on Sunday, surrounded by tight security. Following nearly seven hours of arguments in court between a team of Naidu's lawyers led by Supreme Court advocate Siddarth Luthra and CID lawyers, the judgment is eagerly awaited.
Naidu's arrest unfolded in a pre-dawn operation on Saturday in Nandyala, where officers knocked on the door of the caravan in which he was sleeping. He was subsequently arrested by the CID around 6 am from a marriage hall located in Gnanapuram, Nandyala, where his caravan was parked.
