Refuting the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) allegations that a majority of deaths reported from Jangareddygudem in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh were related to consumption of illicit liquor, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MLA K. Parthasarathy has said that the State government had not made any change in the liquor manufacturing policy, adding that licences were issued during the TDP’s tenure for setting up many distillery units in the State.
Mr. Parthasarathy accused TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu of misleading people with ‘cheap politics’ and claimed that no permit was given for any new distilleries or breweries since 2019 when the YSRCP assumed the office.
“All the alleged J-brands were given permits during the tenure of Mr. Naidu’s Chief Ministerial tenure in 2018. Mr. Naidu had even given permission to a beer brand on May 14, 2019, as an interim Chief Minister. Yet, the TDP is spreading canards to tarnish the image of the State,” said the MLA.
Mr. Parthasarathy alleged that most of the distilleries belonged to TDP leaders such as Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, S.P.Y. Reddy, Adikesavula Naidu, saying that the TDP had no moral right to talk about the issue as they had extensively promoted liquor shops.
‘Committed to prohibition’
The MLA said that the YSRCP government was committed to prohibition. “The number of liquor shops in the State has been brought down to 2,934 and all permit rooms and belt shops have been closed,” he said.
The Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) has booked 92,766 cases and arrested 69,178 people, besides seizure of 12,40,635 liters of spurious liquor since May 2020, he added.
