Hyderabad: Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayan on Friday denied allegations that the ruling party was trying to defer the by-elections by arresting Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy in disproportionate assets case.

Talking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan, Botsa said that Jagan has been trying to mislead the people by leveling baseless allegations against the Congress party accusing it of trying to defer the polls.

He said that the Congress party was sure of its victory in by-elections and would never play dirty politics to counter a political opponent.

The PCC president said that the being a national party, the Congress has always shown respect towards law and constitution, irrespective of whether it remained in power or not.

He said there was no need for the Congress to conspire with the TDP or CBI to arrest Jagan.

He reiterated that the CBI has been investigating the case independently on the directions of High Court and therefore, there was no question of any political interference.

If Jagan's arrest was in Congress's hand, then he would have been arrested long back, he said.

Botsa said that due to Jagan's greed for money and power, many politicians and bureaucrats have landed in jail.

He also alleged that Jagan was having criminal links with the Mangala Krishna, who is accused of supplying arms to Bhanu Kiran, the prime accused in factionist Maddelacheruvu Suri's murder case.

Responding to reports that Anakapalli MP Sabbam Hari was moving closer to Jagan's camp, he said serious disciplinary action would be taken against him after an enquiry.

He appealed to the people to understand Jagan's gimmicks and teach him and his party a fitting lesson in the by-elections.