Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president YS Sharmila slammed her estanged brother and former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Friday accusing him of accepting bribes in deals with the Adani group during his tenure.
She alleged that Redy turned Andhra Pradesh into an “Adani state” and handed it over as a “blank cheque” to the group.
Sharmila’s remarks followed the criminal charges against Gautam Adani and other executives by the US authorities, linking them to an alleged bribery scheme.
During a press conference on Friday, the Congress leader alleged that the bribery scheme, as revealed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), involved sharing benefits from a deal designed to favour two renewable energy companies in securing a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project awarded by the Indian government.
“Yesterday, the Justice Department of the USA and the Securities and Exchange Commission made some allegations against Gautam Adani & Co. The Securities Exchange Commission is like SEBI in our country. They say that Gautam Adani and his team have given bribes to top officials who might be CM’s of various states. Out of this, Jagan also received it,” she said.
“Gautam Adani paid or promised an incentive to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to enter into a power supply agreement to the tune of USD 200 million… A case has been registered and an arrest warrant has been issued against Gautam Adani in this issue,” Sharmila said.
“Adani has insulted the country and Jagan Mohan Reddy has insulted Andhra Pradesh… Jagan got 1750 crores in this deal of electricity agreement. On the other hand, 17,000 crores are being put on the people through DISCOMS. It might not be related but it is an existing fact,” she further added.
“How much bribe did Jagan get in this deal? Jagan Mohan Reddy should answer. How many such projects has Jagan Mohan Reddy given to Adani? How much bribe did Jagan Mohan Reddy get in each of these deals? Jagan Mohan Reddy has given Andhra state as a blank cheque to Adani. He has made Andhra state an Adani state,” she alleged.
Sharmila further said that the Congress party has demanded that the current Andhra CM Chandrabau Naidu, cancel the electricity deal and called for blacklisting Adani. She said that the Congress demands from Naidu that this electricity deal should be cancelled and Adani should be blacklisted.
“All the deals that Adani and Jagan made should be enquired into and all of them should be reviewed…Congress is also demanding a Joint Parliemenrttay Comission into the corruption of Adani,” Sharmila said.
Jagan-Adani corruption allegations
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused billionaire Gautam Adani of meeting then-Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in August 2021.
The meeting reportedly focused on the lack of a power supply agreement between the southern state and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), along with the “incentives” required to persuade Andhra Pradesh to enter into such an agreement, according to the indictment filed in the District Court of the Eastern District of New York.
The Adani Group has denied the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the SEC against the directors of Adani Green Energy.