Sharmila alleges phone tapping, seeks action against Jagan & KCR

Visakhapatnam: State Congress president YS Sharmila Reddy has made serious allegations regarding phone tapping against former chief ministers
YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
of AP and K Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana.
She alleged that during her brother Jagan's tenure as CM, her phone, along with her husband's, were under surveillance in Telangana.
She called upon the chief ministers of both Telugu states to conduct swift investigations into these claims.
During a media interaction here on Wednesday, Sharmila referenced present Rajya Sabha member and her uncle YV Subba Reddy's confirmation of the surveillance. "He confirmed the tapping of my phone.
He came to my house in Hyderabad and made me hear an audio conversation from my phone. He may not accept it today. In the past, he had made false allegations against my family on the direction of Jagan, who in an attempt to grab the properties of his own nephew and niece," she said.
Sharmila claimed Jagan attempted to "restrict her financially and politically" to favour then-Telangana chief minister KCR. She expressed willingness to swear on the Bible regarding the phone tapping claims.
She pointed out that Jagan's association with KCR superseded their sibling relationship.
"Phone tapping is a sketch drawn by both CMs Jagan and KCR to suppress me. It's a joint operation and conspiracy by them. Both have an inherent relationship. I will attend wherever the investigation or interrogation of phone tapping takes place if the authorities ask me to attend," the PCC chief said.
Addressing questions about her delayed response to the phone tapping, Sharmila said circumstances were different then, and the phone tapping was a lesser concern compared to other atrocities.
Sharmila alleged that the phone tapping was part of Jagan's broader strategy to impede her political and financial progress. "They threatened my supporters and forced them to keep away from me. Jagan tried to oppress me to benefit KCR. Forming a party in Telangana is in no way connected to or will bring any loss to Jagan, but he suppressed me for KCR, as both maintained good relations. I fought for my survival, and I don't have any personal grudge.
If I wished to lodge a complaint, I would lodge that time. I would have lodged a case against Jagan when he had filed a case against our mother, Vijayamma, over the property given to her," Sharmila said.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indian Express

34 minutes ago

• Indian Express

Pushpa 2 dialogue on YSRCP placard sparks row

A placard with a line from Pushpa 2, which a YSRCP worker held up during party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's visit to Palnadu, has created a political controversy, with the Andhra Pradesh Home Minister criticising Jagan over the 'violent' message written on it. Jagan defended the placard, saying it was not meant to be violent and asked, 'So, now you can't even quote a line from a movie?' The placard, held up by YSRCP worker T Raviteja on Wednesday, said: 'When YSRCP comes to power in 2029', and below that, 'rapa rapa narukuta'. The Telugu words were part of a line delivered by Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2. It translates to 'cut them down, one by one'. Police in Palnadu said they registered a case against Raviteja and have taken him into custody. Andhra Pradesh Home Minister V Anitha accused Jagan of encouraging such 'violent' statements. Anitha said the message on the placard implied that if YSRCP comes to power, the heads of TDP leaders and workers would be cut off. 'These YSRCP workers display such violent signs because their leader encourages it and uses such language. It is offensive and a violent threat,'' Anitha said. Jagan hit back, saying that the TDP-led NDA government in the state was finding everything offensive and objectionable. 'So, now you cannot even quote a line from a movie? Are we still living in a democracy?' Jagan also said the YSRCP worker in question was previously with the TDP. 'He got fed up with the unfulfilled promises of the TDP and its leadership and joined the YSRCP, and expressed his resentment. This government finds that offensive,' the former chief minister said. Referring to restrictions put on his visit to Palnadu on Wednesday, and the June 11 attack on his convoy allegedly by TDP workers at Podili, Jagan said on Friday that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was scared about 'failure in governance'. 'His impatience is being manifested in diversion politics and foisting false cases against political opponents,' Jagan said. He also claimed that he had received an overwhelming response to his tours. 'Chandrababu has been showing the traits of a dictator by trying to suppress any dissent and gag the voices of those who question the misuse of police. The modus operandi is to catch the small fry, use coercion to seek confessions and file cases against popular YSRCP leaders, unmindful of the fact that people can see through his game,' Jagan said. Chief Minister Naidu, however, chided Jagan for creating problems for the police during his visit to Rentapalla village in Palnadu district. 'Police gave permission for a few vehicles in Jagan's convoy and for 100 people to gather. Ignoring rules and regulations, he entered narrow lanes and created stampede-like situations. Jagan and YSRCP should remember why people gave them only 11 seats — it is due to this kind of dirty tricks,' Naidu said. The CM also said Jagan was siding with drug peddlers, liquor smugglers, and gamblers, and accused YSRCP leaders of unveiling statues of criminals in villages. On Wednesday, Jagan had visited the residence of former deputy sarpanch Korlakunta Nagamalleswara Rao. YSRCP alleges that he was driven to suicide by harassment from the police and the ruling TDP.

The Wire

an hour ago

• The Wire

Opposition Leaders Criticise Shah's Remark that Speaking English In India Will Soon Evoke Shame

Some leaders pointed to the economic value of learning English, while others recalled India's linguistic diversity. New Delhi: A number of opposition politicians on Friday (June 20) expressed criticism of Union home minister Amit Shah's remarks that soon people would feel shame for speaking in English in India, saying that learning the language is economically useful and alleging that Shah was trying to undermine India's linguistic pluralism. Speaking at a book launch in Delhi, Shah on Thursday said that 'the building of a society where those who speak English in this country will feel shame is not far away now'. A 'foreign language' cannot be used to understand 'our country, its history, its traditions and our religions', said Shah, adding to express hope that despite the difficulty in doing so, Indian society would 'once again' run the country, think, conduct research and make decisions in 'our languages'. However, Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi said English is 'as essential as your mother tongue because it will secure jobs [and] boost confidence', advocating for cherishing Indian languages while teaching English. He also alleged that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 'don't want India's poor children to learn English because they don't want you to ask questions, move forward or stand equal'. K. Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP from the Tamil Nadu-based Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party that has resisted what it says is the 'imposition' of Hindi in the state, said that the 'only thing [one] should be ashamed of' is 'imposing your will on the people and trying to destroy the pluralism of India', per a machine translation. R. Bindu, education minister of neighbouring Kerala, alleged that Shah was trying to impose Hindi when he spoke against English. The Hindu cited the Communist Party of India (Marxist) politician as saying that the home minister's remarks reflected his 'narrow politics' and, given that 'learning as many languages as possible would enhance one's knowledge', would 'narrow the global perspective of students'. P. Sandosh Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP for Kerala and member of the Communist Party of India, was quoted as saying by PTI that Shah was trying to 'stigmatise India's linguistic diversity and push the RSS-BJP's cultural majoritarianism'. Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghose, who represents West Bengal in the Rajya Sabha, said Indians 'should not be 'ashamed' of ANY language'. 'Preposterous nonsense from Shri [Amit Shah]. 'English is a link language across India, [it's] aspirational, confers a global advantage and knowledge of English is demanded by millions,' she wrote on X.

Time of India

an hour ago

• Time of India

Patole & Patel slug it out as sparks fly over graft

Nagpur: The ongoing slugfest between former Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and former Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel reached a flashpoint on Friday after the former accused Patel of being responsible for irregularities during his 2011–12 tenure in the UPA govt. Patole's reply came days after Patel termed him as "chillar (petty)" leader, claiming he was being sidelined in Congress after stepping down as MPCC president. Their rivalry began after Patole caused a major upset by defeating Patel, a heavyweight candidate in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Interestingly, Patole was a Congress MLA from Sakoli when Patel was aviation minister and both were in the same govt. Citing objections raised by the Accountant General at the time, Patole claimed Patel cleared questionable civil aviation deals without consequence. "Despite audit red flags, no action was taken. Now, those individuals enjoy protection under the BJP-led Centre. Why was Air India sold off and what's the job of the civil aviation ministry now," he asked at a packed press conference here on Friday, demanding a fresh audit and parliamentary probe into the disinvestment. He further accused the BJP-led Centre of shielding Patel in return for his political allegiance. Patel dismissed the charges as "baseless" and politically motivated, pointing out Patole's silence when both leaders were in Congress. "He's raising these decade-old issues after nearly losing his assembly seat last year when he scraped through by mere 208 votes. He has no role in the party, so he's attacking others for relevance. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] - 2025 Top Trending Search - Local network access Esseps Learn More Undo He doesn't have any evidence to substantiate his claims," Patel told TOI. Talking to reporters, Patole also accused Election Commission of India (ECI) of colluding with the Centre to erase electoral accountability. He condemned a May 30 circular by the ECI instructing state CEOs to destroy all polling-related CCTV footage and documents within 45 days of polling. "This is the first time in independent India that critical poll evidence is being legally destroyed. Citizens would access these materials to challenge outcomes. That right is gone now," he said. He cited a December 2024 ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that mandated preserving such records and accused the Centre of acting in haste. "Within 48 hours of the ECI's letter to the govt, Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules was amended. This cannot be coincidental, it proves collusion," Patole said. Calling the change "a murder of democracy in broad daylight," Patole questioned the surge in vote count on counting day. "At 5 pm there were 40 lakh votes. By evening, it was 76 lakh. When I asked the ECI to explain, they remained silent." The Sakoli MLA further demanded accountability from the Centre following a recent Air India crash in Ahmedabad that claimed over 270 lives. "When 26/11 happened, Congress took moral responsibility by taking resignation from then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and deputy CM RR Patil. Today's rulers must do the same."