Vijayamma is the widow of united Andhra Pradesh’s former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who had died in a chopper crash in the first year of his second term in 2009.
In the petition, Jagan has sought nullification of the transfer of shares of Saraswati Power, claiming that the transfer was in contravention of a Memorandum of Understanding that he had entered into with Sharmila in August 2019 and the gift deed executed in favour of his mother in 2021.
The shares in question are 74,26,294 equity shares of Rs 10 each in Jagan’s name (constituting 29.88 percent paid-up share capital of Saraswati Power), 40,50,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each in Bharathi’s name (16.3 percent), and 12,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each owned by Bengaluru-based firm Classic Realty Private Limited (4.83 percent).
The petition, a copy of which has been accessed by ThePrint, has claimed that the “unauthorised” transfer of these shares, according to Saraswati Power’s board resolution, took place on 6 July—a month after Jagan-led Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) lost power in this year’s assembly polls.
The acrimony over the possession of assets is another chapter in the long-running rivalry between the two siblings over the inheritance of their late father YSR’s political legacy.
The two have been at loggerheads since 2019, after YSRCP stormed to power and Jagan took over as the state’s chief minister, with Sharmila being politically sidelined.
Despite her extensive role in garnering support for her brother with campaign rallies across the state in the run-up to the 2019 elections, Sharmila was not accorded any key position in the government or within the party.
ThePrint explores the connection between the timing of the MoU between the siblings in 2019, the gift deed to the mother in 2021 and the political developments at the time.
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The petition, the MoU & the rivalry
In his petition, Jagan has said that all the properties purchased by his father YSR when he was alive, and the ones that were ancestral in nature, were fairly and equitably settled among his legal heirs—Vijayamma, Sharmila and himself.
However, Jagan adds that he built a few businesses in his individual capacity, and “purely out of love and affection, he harboured an intention to transfer certain properties held by him to Sharmila at a future date”.
To that effect, he and Sharmila entered into an MoU on 31 August, 2019, three months after he assumed the chief ministerial position.
The agreement was viewed by party insiders as a pacification as Sharmila had been given no important role in the new government or ruling party—not even a Rajya Sabha nomination, even as Jagan commanded 151 MLAs in the assembly.
Jagan’s largesse was “unrelated to any consideration” other than love and affection towards his sister, the petition claims. The properties and shares, which were to be transferred in future according to the MoU, included the shares held by Jagan and Bharathi in Saraswati Power.
The gift deed, pertaining to the shares in that company, in favour of Vijayamma, who has been siding with Sharmila in the past few years, was settled in July 2021. This was when Sharmila had left Andhra Pradesh to form the YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) and compete with K. Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi, steering clear of Andhra politics.
However, in January this year, Sharmila merged her party with the Congress months ahead of the Andhra Pradesh assembly polls and was named the chief of the state unit of the Congress. After this, she went on to unsparingly attack “anna” (big brother) Jagan over a wide range of issues, from lack of jobs to the condition of roads in the state.
Jagan, who had accused his sister of joining hands with rival Chandrababu Naidu in his election rallies, has reiterated the political charges in his NCLT petition, too.
The YSRCP chief has claimed that the promised transfer of shares and properties were subject to the outcome of the legal proceedings and the passing of the final unappealable orders in the disproportionate assets case and others against him.
Jagan has submitted to NCLT that an appeal pertaining to the Enforcement Directorate is pending before the High Court of Telangana and that the court had ordered for “status quo to be maintained in all respects till the disposal of the appeal” on 2 December, 2019.
He has said that Sharmila, “without gratitude and without regard to his well-being”, conducted a series of actions deeply hurting him. “She also made several untrue and false statements publicly and also conducted actions that have not only been politically opposed to him, but are also blatantly untrue and have caused deep personal disrepute,” the petition says.
Jagan is likely referring to Sharmila accusing her then CM brother of shielding the culprits in the murder case of their uncle Vivekananda Reddy, during her election campaign as a candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in this year’s general election.
Jagan has further said that Sharmila’s actions have strained the relationship between the siblings, and “further resulted in melting down of all the love and affection the brother had for his sister, especially so when politically motivated uncharitable aspersions were being made at a personal level”.
Jagan’s petition adds that “immensely agonised by the turn of events and having realised that there is no love left between the siblings”, he decided not to proceed with his expression of intent to transfer the shares/properties, as envisaged under the MoU and the gift deed.
Prior to moving NCLT, Jagan had, in a letter to Sharmila on 27 August, conveyed this, along with his intention to revoke the MoU, asking her to revert the shares “deceitfully transferred by you (Sharmila)”.
‘Breach of trust’
As rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP) launched a broadside, especially on social media, against Jagan, portraying him as an “evil brother” denying a share in property to his own sister, highly placed sources in YSRCP told ThePrint that Jagan was just taking precautionary measures to avoid legal troubles in the disproportionate assets cases.
“Jagan, out of love and affection for his sister, signed one MoU in 2019, allocating a portion of self-acquired assets, including shares in Saraswati Power, to her. However, since these assets were under attachment by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to ongoing legal cases, the MoU had explicitly stated that the transfer would only happen once the legal issues were resolved,” a source said.
YSRCP leaders say that over time, Sharmila launched her own political party in Telangana but eventually aligned with the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, leading to a “significant political divide between her and Jagan”. “This rift created tensions within the family, and further complicated their personal and political relationship.”
A party leader, on the condition of anonymity, told ThePrint, “Despite being aware that the assets were legally attached and under court restrictions, Jagan said Sharmila—in a breach of trust and love that motivated him to enter into the agreement—executed the gift deed and transferred shares to their mother Vijayamma, citing the MoU.”
Sources added that Jagan’s legal team cautioned him that the share transfer could cause major legal issues, harm his legal standing in the ongoing cases, especially as political opponents could potentially use the situation to seek a revocation of his bail.
Therefore, he “immediately objected to the share transfer and took steps to safeguard himself from further legal complications”. With no option left, he moved NCLT.
“The gift deed was executed as far back as 2021, but Jagan refrained from completing the share transfer, underscoring his intention to wait until all legal matters were settled before proceeding with any asset transfers,” the YSRCP leader said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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