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Andhra liquor scam: Former CM Jagan denounces arrest of Rajampet MP

Andhra liquor scam: Former CM Jagan denounces arrest of Rajampet MP

New Indian Express10 hours ago
Jagan alleged that the TDP-led NDA government had revived corrupt practices like belt shops and permit rooms — previously shut down by YSRCP to curb illegal sales — while weakening regulatory enforcement and reintroducing backdoor transactions. This, he said, reversed the transparent government shop system set up in 2019.
'Naidu is misusing State agencies, and a section of the media to settle political scores. Ironically, Naidu himself is currently out on bail in multiple corruption cases, including a liquor scam that occurred during his previous tenure 2014-19. During that time, private liquor syndicates thrived, and corruption was institutionalised,' he criticised.
Jagan asserted that after coming to power, Naidu stalled investigations into those serious corruption cases against him, and his close associates. To divert attention and escape accountability, Naidu had conspired to fabricate a politically motivated liquor case targeting YSRCP leaders, he alleged.
Adding to the chorus, YSRCP State coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, speaking outside the ACB court in Vijayawada on Sunday, labelled the arrests as harassment.
He challenged Naidu to seek a Central probe into liquor scams during both their tenures, asserting that the YSRCP regime regulated sales through State-run shops, cutting beer orders by 40% and liquor by 50%, thus curbing distillery profits and bribery.
Sajjala dismissed the scam's fluctuating figures—ranging from Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 3,000 crore—as proof of its falsity, accusing the government and 'yellow media' of concocting a scandal with deleted data.
Both Jagan and Sajjala vowed legal action, and to fight back, drawing on grassroots support, amid escalating political tension in the State.
Other YSRCP leaders also denounced the arrest of Mithun Reddy.
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