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Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has dismissed allegations of taking bribes in a solar power deal during his tenure as "hearsay".
The allegations stem from an indictment by the US Department of Justice, which the Adani Group had said relied only on claims that bribes were discussed or promised, and it did not offer any evidence that Indian government officials received bribes from Adani Group executives.
In an exclusive interview to News Agency today, the chief of the YSR Congress Party said he has met multiple top business executives since he became Chief Minister in 2019 and Gautam Adani was one of them.
"My name is not mentioned anywhere. Whatever reports have come to the light, it's all hearsay. And whatever I gathered, my name is not mentioned anywhere except for the fact that Gautam Adani met me and only after that this was consummated into a power sale agreement, is what I think is what is broadly captured," Jagan Reddy said.
"What is wrong in it (meeting Mr Adani)? In fact, why only specify, why confine yourself only to our meeting in August (2021)? Since 2019, after I had been elected Chief Minister, I met multiple business people. I mean, that is one of the duties of the Chief Minister as the head of a state to meet business people and also address their issues," he said.
"If somebody wants to come and invest in Andhra Pradesh, if they are not going to meet the chief minister and take comfort from the fact that the head of the state is proactive, nobody would come and invest. And that is why every state is competing and organising industrial summits," Jagan Reddy told News Agency.
He said his meeting with Gautam Adani in August 2021 had nothing to do with a deal signed with Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI).
"In fact, from 2019 to the end of my tenure, I would have met Gautam Adani at least five, six times. I mean, why only specify your date only as August? After August also, I would have met him multiple times and before August also, I would have met multiple times and I would have met so many industrialists. This is, as I've said, this is the one of the duties of the chief minister," Jagan Reddy said.
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)