4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Oct 25, 2024 10:37 PM IST
The letter comes over a month after Jagan moved the National Company Law Tribunal, alleging that Sharmila had got shares in Saraswati Power and Industries Private Limited transferred in her and their mother’s name. (Photos: X/ Facebook)
The sibling war between former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and Congress leader YS Sharmila over inheritance from their father, former CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy, continues to escalate. After Jagan accused his sister of “illegally” transferring some shares in a company to herself and their mother, Sharmila said on Friday that he was only the “guardian” of these properties.
In an open letter she addressed to Jagan, she wrote that their father had specifically asked for his businesses to be equally distributed.
The letter comes over a month after Jagan moved the National Company Law Tribunal, alleging that Sharmila had got shares in Saraswati Power and Industries Private Limited transferred in her and their mother’s name.
Sharmila also dismissed the YSRCP’s argument that the transfer of shares could lead to the bail granted to Jagan in a disproportionate assets case being cancelled, reminding him the shares were not attached by the Enforcement Directorate.
“Y S Vijayamma (their mother) wrote a book about Dr YSR, in which she mentioned that to him, the entire world is one side and daughter Sharmila is one side. I was his life. He never looked down on me as a woman or treated me less. Throughout his life he used to say one thing: All my four grandchildren are equal to me,’’ she wrote.
The responsibility of distributing the wealth among the four grandchildren lies with Jagan, she said.
“This is known to all the family members,’’ she wrote.
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She claimed to have “no interest” in family property “due to the harassment I have undergone”, and said she was only seeking her share for her children. She also added that after their father’s death, she had offered her unflinching support to her brother when he was in trouble.
“I had considered his problems as mine and supported him. I set aside my family, my children, and shouldered his and his party’s responsibilities. During those ten years, I was treated well just as YSR had expected and the four children were looked after equally. In these 10 years, I also received Rs 200 crore, which is my share of the dividend in the family’s companies. It is not a favour done to me,” she stated.
Jagan, she claimed, was “unrecognisable” after he became CM. “Shortly after becoming the CM, during the trip to Israel, he proposed to divide the family to which I and mother did not agree, but he was adamant. He called me to Vijayawada and said that he wanted a larger share in Bharathi Cements and Sakshi – 60 percent to him and 40 percent to me. Mother told him that he may seek 5 or 10 percent more, but asking 20 percent more was unfair, but they bulldozed our opinion,” she alleged.
She went on to claim that when she joined politics in 2021, her brother “tried every means to trample me because he did not like that I had entered politics”.
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“I became the target of character assassination on social media and faced personal insults. When Jagan lost the election, they strongly believed it was due to me. They said they don’t want opposition from me anymore and called for a settlement through relatives. The condition to settle the property division issue was that I should not criticise Jagan… on any public platform. I refused as it goes against my nature…,’’ she wrote.
According to her, the petition in NCLT was “revenge” for not agreeing to the conditions.
Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Express, where he serves as one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political and economic landscape of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With a career spanning over two decades in mainstream journalism, he provides deep-dive analysis and frontline reporting on the intricate dynamics of South Indian governance.
Expertise and Experience
Regional Specialization: Based in Hyderabad, Sreenivas has spent more than 20 years documenting the evolution of the Telugu-speaking states. His reporting was foundational during the historic Telangana statehood movement and continues to track the post-bifurcation development of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Key Coverage Beats: His extensive portfolio covers a vast spectrum of critical issues:
High-Stakes Politics: Comprehensive tracking of regional powerhouses (BRS, TDP, YSRCP, and Congress), electoral shifts, and the political careers of figures like K. Chandrashekar Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, and Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Internal Security & Conflict: Authoritative reporting on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), the decline of the Maoist movement in former hotbeds, and intelligence-led investigations into regional security modules.
Governance & Infrastructure: Detailed analysis of massive irrigation projects (like Kaleshwaram and Polavaram), capital city developments (Amaravati), and the implementation of state welfare schemes.
Crisis & Health Reporting: Led the publication's ground-level coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in South India and major industrial incidents, such as the Vizag gas leak.
Analytical Depth: Beyond daily news, Sreenivas is known for his "Explained" pieces that demystify complex regional disputes, such as river water sharing and judicial allocations between the sister states. ... Read More
