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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 NDTV 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 NDTV.

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.)

Reinstate bus marshals (a guard on a public bus to ensure safety of women passengers) and you can all but ensure victory for yourself in next year’s Delhi Assembly election – Chief Minister Atishi‘s humorous ‘offer’ Friday afternoon to Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vijender Gupta.

The remark, made during a sitting of the Delhi Assembly, was directed at Mr Gupta, the MLA from the Rohini constituency, who had criticised the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on this issue.

“On November 10 we had a meeting. On November 13 we sent a report to LG saab. Today is November 29. Now the proposal to reinstate bus marshals is with him…”

“Vijender saab keeps saying, ‘We removed them (the bus marshals) because (then) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked… OK. I am also Chief Minister and now I am saying, “please bring them back’.”

Atishi, smiling broadly, also took a jab at Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena – the centre’s rep in the national capital who often has run-ins with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party. “If he listens to everything a Chief Minister says… he can listen to what I say and bring back bus marshals.”

VIDEO | “You (BJP MLA Vijender Gupta) just get the file for the appointment of bus marshals signed by the LG, I will convince my party not to field any candidate against you in Rohini, I will also campaign for you,” said Delhi CM Atishi (@AtishiAAP) speaking in the Assembly,… pic.twitter.com/XxVHRuDwlO

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 29, 2024

And then the grinning Chief Minister slipped in the ‘offer’; she said, “You just get the file for the appointment of bus marshals signed by the LG. I will convince my party not to field any candidate against you…”, and threw in a bonus, saying, “I will also campaign for you.”

The spat between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Lieutenant Governor VK – over marshals on Delhi Transport Corporation buses – has been bubbling since October last year.

Back then the latter directed the re-tasking of 10,000 such personnel – designated as Civil Defence Volunteers – to fill sanctioned posts of Home Guards. This was after objections by the Directorate of Civil Defence; it was argued they were meant for disaster management roles only.

READ | Delhi Govt Appeals To Lt Governor For Reinstatement Of Bus Marshals

However, earlier this month the Delhi government passed a proposal to eventually reinstate all 10,000 personnel; this would be after a four-month tour to aid anti-pollution efforts in the city.

That proposal was sent to the Lieutenant Governor, and it was approved.

The issue is the LG then urged the Delhi government to formulate a separate scheme to permanently redeploy those 10,000 personnel as bus marshals. But the Delhi government insists, per a report placed before the Lieutenant Governor, that this falls under his purview.

The LG responded by demanding details of the proposal, including a clear definition of roles and responsibilities, budgetary provisions, and service conditions, all approved by the cabinet.

That was the report, according to Chief Minister Atishi, sent on November 13.

Atishi has been Chief Minister since September but, like her predecessor, Mr Kejriwal, has already had run-ins with the Lieutenant Governor. However, in a surprise move last week, Mr Saxena showed praise, rather than criticism, calling her “a thousand times better”.

READ | “Thousand Times Better…”: Delhi Lt Governor’s Surprise For AAP’s Atishi

Mr Saxena didn’t always have kind words for Atishi.

In April, while Mr Kejriwal was in jail, he ripped into her and party colleague Saurabh Bhardwaj for “a lack of seriousness” when summoned to his office to discuss “routine works of governance”.

The AAP is widely seen as facing as stern test to win a third consecutive Assembly election, particularly after persistent attacks from the BJP (and on-paper allies Congress) over issues like the air quality crisis and the ‘sheeshmahal‘ controversy swirling around the ex-Chief Minister.

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