Hyderabad/Nagpur: The cash-for-vote scam in Telangana took a dramatic turn on Sunday with the release of an audio tape of a purported telephonic conversation between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and nominated Telangana legislator Elvis Stephenson. The Andhra government denied that it’s Naidu’s voice. Here are the developments:
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son and state minister K Tarakarama Rao dares Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to face a live lie-detector test in the cash-for-vote scandal.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau of Telangana continues questioning TDP legislator A Revanth Reddy and two others in the cash-for-vote scam.
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2 May 2025
TDP leaders and activists in different part of Andhra Pradesh take to the streets to protest against the TRS government. They raise slogans against Chandrasekhar Rao and burnt his effigies.
A Visakhapatnam-based advocate NVV Prasad lodges a complaint against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for violating the basic rights of Naidu and “tarnishing” his image by tapping his telephone lines.
The FIRs have been registered at various police stations in Krishna, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, including Irrigation Minister Umamaheswar Rao, lodge First Information Reports against Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, officials of the Telanagana Anti-Corruption Bureau and some TV channels. They claim that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government fabricated the audio tape aired by some TV channels to implicate Naidu in a false case.
The reported conversation suggests that the Andhra CM was giving “assurance of all sorts” to the MLA if he votes for TDP nominee in the Telangana Legislative Council election.
Parakala Prabhakar, Advisor (Communications) to the Andhra Pradesh government, strongly denies reports, saying that the tapes were fabricated and the state government will take up the issue seriously. Prabhakar alleges that the Telangana Government is trying to malign the image of the AP Chief Minister by resorting to cheap tactics.
A purported conversation in an audio tape between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and nominated MLA Elvys Stephenson, aired in a section of local TV channels, gave a new twist to the cash-for-votes controversy on Sunday.
Both Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telugu Desam Party governments have taken up the issue with ESL Narasimhan, who is the governor for both the Telugu states.
Based on a complaint by Stephenson, ACB officials held Revanth, Sebastian Harry and Uday Simha after they were caught while allegedly handing over Rs 50 lakh to Stephenson.
On May 31, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Telangana arrested Telugu Desam Party MLA Revanth Reddy for allegedly trying to bribe the nominated Telangana MLA Elvis Stephenson to vote for TDP nominee in the Telangana Legislative Council election.
