VIJAYAWADA: Minister for IT and Industries Gudivada Amarnath on Tuesday said former CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s involvement in the fibernet scam was exposed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the State Assembly as the Leader of Opposition in 2016 itself.
“The Rs 114 crore fibernet scam is one of the many scams, in which Naidu was involved,” he observed.
During a short discussion on the ‘AP Fibernet scam’ in the State Assembly, he described it as another case study after the skill development scam, which exposed the real face of Naidu. Though the scam was exposed in 2016 by the YSRC, its probe commenced in 2021, after the APSFL managing director filed a complaint with the investigating agency.
Playing a video clip from 2016, in which Jagan was seen explaining the fibrenet scam in the Assembly, Gudivada said the former had already raised his voice for an investigation into the fibrenet scam as an Opposition Leader.In the five-minute video clip, Jagan was seen questioning the then CM Naidu to answer to the people of the State about the irregularities in the fibernet project.
“The objective of fibernet project of the TDP government seemed to be controlling TV channels. The entire scam involved Rs 330 crore. What is most interesting is that a software company Tera Software, which was blacklisted by the government for its failure in implementing the ePOS machines for fair price shops, was given the fibernet project” Jagan mentioned.
Pointing out the names of the people mentioned in the video — Vemuri Harikrishna and Devineni Seetharam — the IT Minister said Vemuri Harinath was not just member of e-Governance Authority, but also member of technical and tender evaluation committees for the fibernet project.
“The two people had served as directors on of Heritage company. Vemuri Harikrishna was arrested for his attempt to tamper with EVMs, but later became the technical advisor to Naidu and he has connections with Tera Software,” Amarnath explained.
Elaborating on how Tera Software bagged the tender for the fibernet project, the IT Minister said the company was still blacklisted by the time of original last date for filing tenders for the project. However, the last date was extended by one week and a day before the last date, Tera Software was removed from the blacklist and later it bagged the fibernet project contract.
“However, going by the letter of K Sundar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APTS at that time, considering the track record of Tera Software, the government was not recommend to award the contract and selected the second bidder. However, his advice was ignored and a few days after the tender was awarded, Sundar was transferred,” the IT Minister pointed out.
Listing out various loopholes in implementation of the fibernet project, including the supply of low grade equipment for excess price, Amarnath said, Rs 114 crore was routed to Naidu through various shell companies in a modus operandi similar to the one in the AP State Skill Development Corporation scam.
Referring to the reported statement of Nara Bhuvaneswari, wife of Naidu, that they are well off and 2% of Heritage stock is worth Rs 400 crore, the IT Minister wanted to know how Naidu was able to amass such a huge wealth.
“When Naidu married Bhuvaneswari, he only got a property of 2 acres of land. But now, Mrs Naidu claims that if she sells only 2% shares of her company, she will get Rs 400 crore. Going by her statement, the net worth of her company should be Rs 20,000 crore. My question to Mrs Naidu is, if only one of your companies values Rs 20,000 crore, then what would be the total worth of all other companies and businesses owned by you and your family?” he asked.