Jagan met with DK Shivakumar about merging both parties, claims a Telugu daily; Karnataka Dy CM debunks it as false

However, the Deputy Chief Minister’s office confirmed to South First that they have not registered any police complaint on the matter but only debunked the false news.

Coincidentally, Congress’ Telangana unit chief YS Sharmila Reddy, younger sister of Jagan Mohan Reddy, enjoys good political relationship with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief and Dy CM Shivakumar.

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Fake News published in AP daily

In the 2024 Andhra Pradesh assembly polls, Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government was dethroned from power by the Telugu Desam Party in coalition with Jana Sena Party and BJP-led. The party managed to win just 11 out of 175 Assembly seats.

According to the news clipping shared on DK Shivakumar’s official X account, the article claims that due to PM Modi being on TDP supremo’s side and the several cases against Jagan, he felt that it was not possible to survive without the help of a national party.

“Pulivendula MLA Jagan Reddy limited to only 11 seats in the previous election. He feels that it will be difficult for his party to survive. With Modi by Chandrababu’s side, and the CBI and ED cases against him and the uncle murder case hanging on him, Jagan felt that it was no longer possible to survive without the help of the national party,” read the article.

The article further alleged that Jagan is holding discussions in Bangalore with the KPCC chief and spoke about merging both the parties.

“Jagan is already holding discussions at Bangalore. Jagan, who met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday (24 June) night, offered to merge his party with the Congress if Sharmila was expelled from the party,” alleged the local daily in the article.

“It seems that DK seems to have said that he will discuss this with the high command and take a decision,” it added.

The article also said that Jagan thinks that he will face trouble whether he chooses to live in Andhra Pradesh or Telangana from Chandrababu or Revanth Reddy respectively.

“Jagan thinks that if he is in Tadepalli Palace, there will be trouble from Chandrababu. If he is in Hyderabad, there will be trouble from Revanth Reddy (Telangana CM). From now on, he will be living in Bangalore’s Yelahanka Palace. Hence, he met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. But, will the Congress leadership again allow Jagan, who cheated them, to join? Or, will he do politics in Andhra with Sharmila? That will have to wait. – Director AP Bureau,” claimed the Andhra Pradesh daily.

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DK Shivakumar debunks false news

When asked for details about the Telugu daily, DK Shivakumar’s office refrained from disclosing the identity of the newspaper. However, they confirmed the aforementioned news was published in one of the Telugu dailies.

In his post on X, Shivakumar said: “Some miscreants are creating and spreading fake photos claiming that I have met former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy. I have not met Jagan Mohan Reddy. No one should believe this.”

ನಾನು ಆಂಧ್ರ ಪ್ರದೇಶ ಮಾಜಿ ಸಿಎಂ ಜಗನ್ ಮೋಹನ್ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿರುವಂತೆ ಯಾರೋ ಕಿಡಿಗೇಡಿಗಳು ನಕಲಿ ಫೋಟೊ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿ ಹರಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಾನು ಜಗನ್ ಮೋಹನ್ ರೆಡ್ಡಿ ಅವರನ್ನು ಭೇಟಿ ಮಾಡಿಲ್ಲ. ಯಾರೂ ಕೂಡ ಇದನ್ನು ನಂಬಬಾರದು. pic.twitter.com/5jXsLJj5LD

— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) June 30, 2024

On conditions of anonymity, an official from the DK Shivakumar’s office told South First: “A local newspaper in Andhra Pradesh has published a false news that Andhra Pradesh former CM YSR Jagan Mohan Reddy has met Deputy CM DK Shivakumar. This newspaper clipping has been making rounds on the social networking sites for the last one-week. Hence, a post clarifying about the meeting was put out on social media platforms.”

While denying that such a meeting between two leaders took place, the official stated, “We have not filed any complaint on the matter. We just called out false news that was making rounds on social media.”

 (Edited by Neena)

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