YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is making a concerted effort to refute allegations that he accepted bribes from the Adani Group for solar power purchases during his tenure.
At a press conference on Thursday, Jagan took an assertive stance, calling the accusations baseless. He emphasized that his name does not appear in the U.S. indictment linked to the matter.
“The U.S. indictment does not mention my name or suggest I was offered incentives. There’s no way anyone could offer me bribes in the first place. These allegations are hearsay, and no one has claimed that I or anyone else took bribes,” he stated.
Jagan denied having any direct dealings with the Adani Group regarding the solar power purchase agreements.
He defended his meetings with the Adanis, stating, “I met with the Adanis several times during my tenure as Chief Minister, which is not unusual. Such meetings are standard practice.”
He dismissed the allegations as nonsense, saying, “If someone foolishly relies on hearsay to spread baseless accusations, that’s beyond anyone’s help.”
While it is true that Jagan’s name does not appear in the U.S. indictment, the document does mention that the Adani Group allegedly paid â¹1,750 crore in bribes to "Foreign Official #1," an Indian citizen who served as a high-ranking government official in Andhra Pradesh between May 2019 and June 2024.
The indictment specifies that Adani “personally interacted” with "Foreign Official #1" in Andhra Pradesh on several occasions in 2021 to finalize agreements. Meetings reportedly took place on August 7, September 12, and November 20 of that year.
As Jagan was the Chief Minister during this period, he should have clarified who "Foreign Official #1" was, if not him.
If he denies the allegations, he must explain which high-ranking official in Andhra Pradesh interacted with Adani multiple times to finalize agreements.
If Jagan believes the U.S. indictment is entirely false, he should have stated so and affirmed that the courts will address the matter.