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Visakhapatnam, October 10 (IANS) YSR Congress Party women’s wing president and MLC Varudu Kalyani has termed poisonous liquor as the biggest scam in the country.
Launching a scathing attack on the TDP-led coalition government, he alleged that it was drowning Andhra Pradesh in poisonous liquor.
He told media persons here that under Chandrababu Naidu’s rule everything has become adulterated – drinking water, medicines in hospitals, baby food and the most dangerous liquor.
“During the tenure of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh was known as Vidya Andhra and Vaidya Andhra. But under N Chandrababu Naidu, it has been changed to Madhya (Liquor) Andhra Pradesh. Today, one in every three liquor bottles sold is spurious. TDP leaders have turned spurious liquor making into a cottage industry,” he said.
Terming it the biggest scam in the country, he cited the Mulkalacheruvu bust, where 17,000 liters of spurious liquor worth Rs. Rs 1.75 crore were seized.
He alleged that TDP leaders, constituency in-charges and their relatives were running factories near Vijayawada and Eluru, whose racket extended to Visakhapatnam as well. “Excise officials themselves confirmed TDP’s involvement, yet the government punished a woman CI who exposed it instead of prosecuting the culprits,” he said.
He demanded a CBI inquiry, reminding that YSRCP MP Mithun Reddy has already written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He also criticized Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan for maintaining silence despite his previous criticism of liquor.
Meanwhile, YSRCP leader and former minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) accused Chandrababu Naidu and his party of hypocrisy, double standards and protecting hardened criminals.
Nani said that the TDP father-son duo, blinded by greed, have committed countless mistakes, while the Excise Department itself is shocked by the scale of manufacturing of spurious liquor.
He said licensed distilleries are now facing illegal competition from units like Mulakacheruvu, while earlier seizures in Amalapuram, Paravada of Anakapalle and Nellore reveal the proliferation of the racket.
Popular brands are being copied, all the franchises held in Eluru, Repalle and Amalapuram are linked to the Mullakalacheruvu hub from where the liquor was shipped to Ibrahimpatnam. He said that this racket came to light due to internal disputes among TDP leaders over profit sharing.
He questioned why the ministers of the districts where spurious liquor was detected are silent, why the Minister of Prohibition and Excise did not give any reaction and why Lokesh, who frequently posts on Twitter, is now silent. Even Chandrababu, who runs to the microphone on small issues, has not said anything.
–IANS
MS/PGH