AMARAVATI: YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy today said he would quit politics if it was proved that he had stashed wealth abroad.
The YSRC chief was reacting to reports about his name figuring in the leaked 'Paradise Papers', the latest global expose by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
At a public meeting in V N Palli in Kadapa district, as part of his ongoing 'Praja Sankalpa Padyatra', the Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly rebutted allegations being levelled by the ruling TDP that he stashed ill-gotten wealth abroad.
"I am giving you (Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu) 15 days' time. If you can prove that I have deposited even one paisa in foreign countries, I will quit politics. If not, will you step down as the chief minister," Reddy said.
"Whenever I take up a major programme, like this padyatra, Chandrababu (Naidu) and his cohorts start a malicious campaign against me. This has become a habit for them to divert people's attention from reality," he said.
The YSRC chief said, "In the last eight years, I was never cowed down by those in power. I always indulged in clean and honest politics and will never bring disrepute to my (late) father (Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy)." More than 700 Indian names, including those of politicians, corporates and celebrities, figured in the leaked 'Paradise Papers' on Monday detailing business dealings of "the world's most powerful people and companies" in offshore tax havens.