Andhra Pradesh's opposition party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has alleged that under the rule of the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government, illicit and cheap liquor is rampant in the state, and demanded a white paper on revenue from liquor. TDP politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Saturday, March 19, claimed that while irrigation water flowed under the TDP rule, illicit liquor is flowing under YSRCP rule.
The former minister termed it 'moral bankruptcy' on the part of the ruling YSRCP leaders to blame the Chandrababu Naidu regime for everything even after three years of being in power. He also alleged that the ‘J brand’ of spurious liquor is being supplied by CM Jagan Reddy, referring to deaths of 19 persons due to alleged illicit liquor in Jangareddygudem town recently. The TDP leader demanded a white paper on liquor sales, revenue and debts raised during the past three years.
He also said the government should come out with details of the loans taken through the excise department and the beverages corporation. "How much interest was being paid? Which properties were mortgaged for those loans? For what those multi-crore loans were spent? The government should reveal if it applied for more loans," he said.
Ramakrishnudu demanded the government to disclose the names of distilleries from which harmful and spurious liquor is bought by the public. Further, speaking about how the YSRCP recently alleged that the Pegasus spyware was bought by Chandrababu Naidu personally,he also claimed that the YSRCP brought Pegasus to the fore only to divert the public attention from rising public resentment. “The Jagan regime was afraid of the backlash on liquor deaths, commissions and loans. Some uneducated YSRCP leaders had no idea about the spelling of Pegasus but they were throwing mud on the TDP regime,” he said.
The ruling party leaders did not know the fact that the spyware would be sold only to the governments but not to private individuals. Moreover, the permission of the Central Government was required for this. The Jagan Government's reply under RTI clearly indicated that the Andhra Pradesh Government had not procured such a software.
The YSRCP had on Friday demanded a probe into West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that the previous TDP government in Andhra Pradesh had purchased spyware from Pegasus.