HYDERABAD: Intensifying their attack on Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy for joining BJP after allegedly striking a quid pro quo deal, the Congress party on Sunday said that he changed his loyalties to the saffron party only after finalising Rs 18,264 crore (to be precise Rs 18,264 crores, 70 lakhs and 97,000) agreement between his family-owned Sushee Infra & Mining Limited and the Central Coalfields Limited in March 2022.
“Though Rajagopal Reddy kept giving statements that he would join BJP for close to three years, he didn’t as the contract in question was not finalised. He officially joined BJP only after his company entered into an agreement,” TPCC campaign committee chairman Madhu Yaskhi said.
Releasing documents related to “Operation Boggu (coal)”, which the grand old party launched on Sunday, he alleged that Rajagopal Reddy’s wife Laxmi and son Sankeerth Reddy had a 99.99 per cent share in Sushee Infra & Mining Limited.
“Rajagopal Reddy will earn 520 per cent dividends on his investment of Rs 3,437.14 crore,” Madhu Yaskhi said.
Listing the chronology of events that occurred before Rajagopal Reddy joined BJP, he said: “In January 2021, Rajagopal announced that he would join BJP, and within two months, the BJP government cancelled the tender that had already been allotted to Adani Group. However, the procedure of awarding the contract was slow. Therefore, Rajagopal Reddy again announced that he would not join BJP. It was then pressure mounted on BJP and the agreement was finalised in March 2022.”
“Only then did Rajagopal quit Congress and joined BJP as planned,” he added.
No ‘quid pro quo’, open to any probe: Rajagopal’s son
Meanwhile, MD of Sushee Infra and Mining Limited, Komatireddy Sankeerth Reddy, who is also the son of BJP Munugode byelection contestant Rajagopal Reddy, categorically refuted all the allegations that a “quid pro quo” deal was behind the company being awarded the Rs 18,000 crore contract.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Sankeerth Reddy said: “Chandragupt Coalfields Limited (CCL) had notified the tenders on June 30, 2020. Adani, Aurobindo and Monteclaro companies quoted Rs 776 per ton L1, Rs 871 per ton L2 and Rs 999 per ton L3. CCL cancelled this tender on the grounds that the quoted rates were not justified.”
“The same was re-tendered on February 30, 2021. The SIML-MRKR consortium, Adani and Monteclaro companies quoted Rs 648 per ton L1, Rs 695.40 per ton L2 and Rs 749 per ton L3,” he added.
“During the negotiations, we offered a suo moto rate of Rs 538.29 per ton and work was awarded to us,” he said.
“We are open for any kind of probe by the government agencies regarding the award of this work (contract),” Sankeerth said.