Chandrababu Naidu awaits NBW

Amaravati: In an interesting development, AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said that he had not received any non-bailable warrant of arrest from Dharmabad Court of Nanded district in Maharashtra so far even as Telugu Desam Party's legions have already taken to streets, holding BJP dispensations at the Centre and in Maharashtra being responsible for the issuance of NBW.

The Dharmabad court had issued the warrant against Chandrababu Naidu and 16 others for trying to stage protest at Babli project site against increase in its height in 2010.

Speaking in AP Legislative Assembly on short duration discussion on implementation of AP Reorganisation Act, Naidu said: "I have not received any communication from the court though for the last couple of days it was in news." Naidu, however, said that he will discuss the issue with officials concerned and take appropriate legal action on it. Naidu recalled Maharashtra police arresting him in AP close to Maharashtra border as he was leading TDP leaders to stage a protest.

"At that time the Maharashtra police said that there was no case against me and the other leaders and sent us back to Hyderabad on a special flight. Now suddenly, it is said that the court had issued non-bailable warrant against me and the others," he said. He contended that construction of Babli project was illegal since it was a project within Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) on the Godavari river.

The farmers in North Telangana stood to lose because of the construction of the Babli project, he said. Meanwhile, the question of whether or not the Chief Minister should attend the court is still in discussion.

Naidu had said that he was willing to attend the court in accordance with the provisions of the relevant Act under which the arrest warrant has been issued but the party leaders suggest to him to file a recall petition in the court instead of appearing personally. The leaders suspect political vendetta against Naidu by the BJP and suggested Naidu to explore options open to him instead of attending the court.