Chandrababu Naidu accuses Telangana government of stealing data under a conspiracy

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on Saturday, alleged the Telugu Desam Party's data was stolen by the Telangana government under a deep-rooted conspiracy with the YSR Congress.

The TDP chief said the conspiracy was aimed at destabilising the state and destroying the TDP

At a news conference, Naidu showed some documents as evidence of the conspiracy. He claimed it all began on February 19 with YSR Congress leader Vijay Sai Reddy writing a letter to the Election Commission alleging the TDP had illegal access to digital data of individuals.

Chandrababu Naidu said on February 22, the YSR Congress submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission and the very next day the police in Hyderabad conducted a raid on IT Grids, the company that was providing IT services to the TDP.

"The police action was illegal as the raid was conducted without any complaint," Naidu said, alleging the database prepared by the TDP over the last two decades was taken away by the police and given to the YSR Congress.

The TDP chief said the Telangana Police questioned IT Grids Chief Executive Officer D. Ashok and four other employees. "It was on the midnight of March 2 that a complaint was filed," said Naidu, alleging both the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government and the YSR Congress were caught red-handed.

He said after registering a case, the police alleged the company had access to data of the people of Andhra Pradesh.

"Who has given you the power to take action? We also have sovereign powers. The Chief Secretary of Telangana could have contacted the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh and brought the issue to his notice," Naidu said.

The Chief Minister said the theft of TDP data had left the party immobilised at a crucial time when elections were round the corner and the party was in the process of selecting its candidates.

Naidu said under the conspiracy, the YSR Congress, the TRS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had made a beeline to complain to the Governor.

The TDP leader warned that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao would have to pay a price for stealing the TDP data and for filing false cases.