TDP supremo N Chandrababu had denied that his government had ever purchased the spyware. He responded to the charge levelled by West Bengal chief minister Mamatha Benerji that Andhra Pradesh government during Chandrababu Naidu’s regime had purchased the Pegasus. She said that she had an offer to buy the spyware but did not go for it. She reportedly made this statement during her budget speech in the West Bengal Assembly early this week.
Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh was first to respond to the allegation as he was the minister for information technology when his father was the chief minister between 2014 and 2019.
The TDP chief, who interacted with the party leaders on Friday from his party office said that the allegation was baseless. The TDP had also circulated a reply of the State police to an RTI activist in which the DGP office said that they have ever purchased Pegasus.
Surprisingly, all political parties, including the ruling YSR Congress, are silent on the allegation against Naidu and his government. The YSR Congress leaders who leave no opportunity to target the TDP and its chief Chandrababu Naidu did not use it for the reasons known to them.
However, Chandrababu Naidu gave an explanation to his party leaders and brushed aside the allegation. Interestingly, Naidu and Mamatha are good friends and they have worked together in the 2019 general elections against the BJP-led NDA. While Mamatha continues to work for a national alternative to the NDA and UPA, Naidu had become silent and inactive in the national politics after his defeat in the 2019 general elections.
It is not known why Mamatha had made the allegation against her friend without any provocation.
