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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday sought an 'independent inquiry' into the tehelka.com tape expose on the sleaze and corruption in defence deals.
Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party is a key ally of the National Democratic Alliance government, termed the entire episode as "very bad" and felt that "this should not have happened." He said, "This is the reason why I am saying the inquiry should be conducted."
The TDP chief, who seemed to be very guarded and cautious in his reaction, parried a spate of queries on the issue in a brief interaction with the media in the state assembly premises.
"There should be an independent inquiry into all these things. The truth should come out," he emphasised, but refused to spell out what his party would do on the issue. "We will take a decision after the enquiry report comes in."
To a question whether he was for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the episode, as was the case with the Bofors gun deal, Chandrababu Naidu merely stated that "it should be an inquiry by an independent body."
Asked whether Defence Minister George Fernandes and others entangled in the episode should resign, as Bharatiya Janata Party president Bangaru Laxman has done, the TDP chief felt that "first the inquiry should be conducted. Truth will come out and other things will follow."
The TDP, which is the second largest party in the ruling coalition with 29 members in the Lok Sabha, has been extending "issue-based" support to the BJP-led government. It is not a constituent of the NDA but an 'outside ally'.
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