Congress Adilabad incharge Kandi Srinivas Reddy embroiled in major H1B- visa rigging

Kandi Srinivas Reddy, an NRI turned politician who was fielded on a Congress ticket from the Adilabad Assembly constituency in the last elections, is embroiled in a major H1B- visa lottery rigging report unfolded in the United States.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Reddy who owns close to 13 companies, his name has surfaced among the many involved in H1B- visa lottery rigging. He has now come under the scrutiny for his alleged involvement in the visa lottery system.

According to Bloomberg, in April every year, the US government conducts a lottery for H-1B visas. New federal data reveal that thousands of companies got an 'unfair advantage' by managing extra lottery tickets. Referred to as “multiple registration,” the tactic involved submitting more than one lottery entry for the same person to boost their chances, a maneuver that federal officials describe as fraud.

Over four years, one staffing firm operator used a dozen companies to enter the same applicants as many as 15 times, securing hundreds of H-1Bs while others lost out. Companies that used the multiple registration tactics pulled in about 40,000 H-1Bs in four years.

It was discovered that Kandi Srinivasa Reddy the founder of Indian Americans Farmers Cooperative Cooperation, worked in concert to game the lottery, winning more than 300 H-1Bs since 2020. Through his companies, his candidates were virtually assured lottery wins. His companies got a total of 54 visas, far more than any previous year. They have scored more than 300 since 2020, said the Bloomberg report.

Kandi Srinivasa Reddy identified himself as the founder and CEO of a group of staffing companies and took credit for employing hundreds of people.

According to Bloomberg report, Kandi Srinivas Reddy manages 13 companies to get visas.

1. Machine Learning Technoloies.

2. Data Science Technologies.

3. Blockchain Technologies.

4. Robotic Process Automation.

5. Cloud Big Data Technologies.

6. Cloud Technology Group.

7. Automation Technologies.

8. Machine Intelligence Technologies.

9. Artificial Intelligence Technologies.

10. Artificial Technologies.

11. Robotics Technologies.

12. 3D Technologies.

13. Digital Technologies.

Kandi Srinivasa Reddy's response:

Talking to NewsMeter, Kandi Srinivas Reddy said there is nothing unusual in the manner of getting H1B visa approvals or the number of such approvals by his companies. "Of the total of 4.25 lakh such visas approved by the US through different staffing companies between 2020 and 2024, our share is just 300," he said to drive home the point that the number of visa approvals was relatively small.

"I have given the names of my companies and relevant details in my election affidavit. Everything is above board," he added.

Explaining the functioning of his staffing companies Srinivas Reddy said even American citizens got employed through his companies besides others. "We recommend the names of candidates based on the skill and talent as required by employing companies," he said.

As for the allegations of a scam of visa rigging, Srinvas Reddy said it could be because he is in politics. "People perhaps think that the story will get traction if a scam is alleged on a political leader," he observed.

Who is Kandi Srinivas Reddy?

Hailing from Hasnapur village in Tamsi Mandal of Adilabad district, Kandi Srinivasa Reddy is into Information Technology business in Texas, USA.

He came to the limelight first in early 2022 when people in Adilabad suddenly woke up to the posters of Kandi Srinivas Reddy in the constituency. They later learned that he was trying hard to get closer to the BJP.

To attract attention, he tried to put up his pictures with senior BJP leader BL Santhosh on social media. But somehow he could not make it and thus switched over to Congress.

He shot to fame by distributing pressure cookers to women voters in the constituency. However, he was later prevented from doing so. A case was also filed against him for allegedly influencing women voters.

There was also a talk about how much he spent on elections. His IT firm is said to have a turnover of about Rs 800 crore. Around the time when Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and then MP Revanth Anumula went to the US, it was rumored that Kandi Srinivas Reddy funded their trip.

What followed was his Congress ticket. He contested the Telangana Assembly polls from Adilabad. However, he came 3rd in the contest. Today, he is the party in charge of the Adilabad constituency.

There are also rumors that he played a role in preventing Jogu Ramanna from joining Congress after his defeat in the last elections. The family reportedly owns a news channel 'Amma Bharat'.

He entered the local political firmament as a BJP supporter in 2022 by taking up social work programs. He switched sides after being assured of a ticket by the then Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy. Revanth Reddy has since then become Chief Minister.

Reddy targetted women, and gifted pressure cookers to each of the estimated 45,000 voter families in the constituency as part of his ‘social work program’. He borrowed the idea from the election campaign of Nara Bharat Reddy who won the Bellary seat in Karnataka in May 2023.

Kandi Srinivasa Reddy Foundation spent a few crores of rupees on pressure cookers. Each 5-litre cooker costs just over Rs 1,000. Initially, he placed an order for 32,000 units of the thermodynamic systems to cover 28,000 families in the Adilabad district headquarters town.

Inputs from senior journalist Harpal Singh.