Even as the hearing in the cash-for-vote case against Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the Metropolitan Criminal Court at Nampally was adjourned to 14 November, the Opposition said the noose was tightening around him after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) named him as the accused number one in the money laundering case.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has received a clean chit from the Central agency in the Rs 371-crore skill development corporation scam for which he had spent 53 days in prison last year.

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In the previous hearing against Reddy in the Nampally court, the judge asked those involved in the case, including the chief minister, to be physically present in the court today but the hearing was adjourned once again.

The case has been going on since 2015 when Reddy, then a TDP MLA, was caught on camera by sleuths of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) trying to bribe Anglo-Indian MLA Elvis Stephenson to vote for party candidate Vem Narender Reddy in the MLC elections.

Now, the ED has also named him as the accused number one in the money laundering case related to it.

“The ED has named the Telangana chief minister as the accused number one in a money laundering case. PMLA act has been invoked against him and the investigation is on. The Telangana chief minister is also facing a cash-for-vote case in other courts of Hyderabad,” said N Ramchander Rao, the BJP leader who drew a comparison between the corruption cases against Reddy and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

He added, “We demand a proper investigation and also bringing out names of other leaders who are also involved in this scam.”

The BRS said the noose was tightening around Reddy as its social media handles spread the report.

Meanwhile, the ED in Hyderabad provisionally attached assets worth Rs 23.5 crore belonging to Designtech Systems Private Limited and others named in the chargesheet but said there was no evidence to link Naidu to the misappropriation of funds that occurred in the course of the scam.

Under the previous YSRCP regime, the CID had not only booked Naidu but also named him in the chargesheet before the ACB court in Vijayawada. Incidentally, Naidu’s name had also surfaced in the cash-for-vote case as an audio clip had surfaced purportedly of Naidu assuring the Anglo-Indian MLA that promises would be honoured.