If speculations doing rounds in the political circles are to be believed, Jana Sena Party chief and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan has strongly opposed the decision of Telugu Desam Party president and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to nominate notorious businessman-turned-politician Sana Satish Babu for Rajya Sabha.
On Monday, Pawan Kalyan had a one-on-one meeting with Naidu at the latter’s residence to discuss certain political issues.
During the discussions, Naidu is learnt to have proposed the name of Sana Satish Babu as one of the candidates for the Rajya Sabha seats, nominations for which will be issued in a day or two.
However, Pawan Kalyan has reportedly expressed objections to Satish Babu's selection because of the latter’s dubious background.
He explained to Naidu why nominating Satish to RS would send wrong signals to the alliance cadre.
Sources said if Naidu ignores Pawan’s reservations and still goes ahead with the nomination of Satish Babu, it might be the beginning of the troubles within the alliance.
Satish Babu’s name was originally considered for Kakinada Lok Sabha seat in the last elections, but the TDP had to allot the seat to the Jana Sena Party as part of alliance.
Subsequently, Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan fielded “Tea Time” chain of stores owner Tangella Uday Srinivas for the seat and he won it comfortably.
Pawan Kalyan’s objection is that Satish Babu has been facing several cases of money laundering and other criminal cases. He was arrested in the past and is presently on bail.
In 2019, Sana Satish Babu was arrested in connection with the money-laundering case involving Moin Qureshi.
The CBI was probing the purported purchase of shares worth Rs 50 lakh of a company linked to Qureshi by Satish Babu. It is suspected that the amount was paid as a bribe to settle a case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's special probe team, under the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana, had recommended his arrest in its own case against Qureshi and others.