Vijayawada: YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday, calling him a “credit chor” for allegedly claiming ownership of the Visakhapatnam data centre project that was initiated under the previous YSRCP government.

Addressing the media at party central office in Tadepalli, Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Naidu of misleading the public by portraying the recently signed USD 15 billion MoU with Google as a new project conceived by his government. He clarified that the massive data centre in Visakhapatnam is being developed by the Adani Group with Google as the client.

“The Adani Group and the Government of Andhra Pradesh laid the foundation for the data centre on May 3, 2023, along with the groundbreaking for undersea cables from Singapore. This project was envisioned during the YSRCP regime, not by Chandrababu Naidu,” Jagan said.

He said the project’s groundwork was laid through coordination between the Central government, the Singapore government, and the Adani Group, and accused Naidu of suppressing facts about Adani’s Rs 87,000 crore investment.

To substantiate his claim, Jagan displayed an e-mail dated October 4, 2025, from Alexander Smith of Google to state IT secretary Bhaskar, naming Adani executive Sanjay Bhutani as the authorized contact for land allotment. “This proves that Adani is building the data centre and Google is its client,” he asserted.

Drawing parallels with the past, Jagan alleged that Naidu had also taken undue credit for Hyderabad’s IT development. “He boasts about Cyber Towers, which were built on six acres, but forgets that former Chief Minister Janardhan Reddy laid the foundation. During my father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure, IT exports rose from Rs 5,650 crore in 2003–04 to Rs 32,509 crore in 2008–09,” he said.

He dismissed the TDP’s claims that YSRCP had opposed the data centre, asserting that his government had proposed 25,000 jobs through IT parks and skill centres. “Data centres may not employ large numbers directly, but they build a digital foundation for future industries,” he said.

Jagan also attacked the Naidu government over the alleged rise of spurious liquor production across the State. Displaying images of illegal liquor units, he claimed that one in five bottles sold in Andhra Pradesh was fake and that the network thrived under political protection.

He alleged that the police were acting under Naidu’s influence and termed the formation of a Special Investigation Team a “cover-up.” Jagan demanded to know why TDP leaders Jayachandra Reddy and Janardhan Reddy, allegedly linked to the racket, had not yet been arrested.

Responding to comments by TDP MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna against actor-politician Chiranjeevi, Jagan said, “Balakrishna spoke in an inebriated state. The Speaker should not have allowed him to speak in that condition. His mental state clearly needs evaluation.”