Alleging that illicit liquor and ‘J’ brand liquor were responsible for the deaths in Jangareddygudem in West Godavari district, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday accused Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of causing misery to many families in his quest for making easy money.
In a teleconference with the party leaders and cadres, Mr. Naidu asked them to stage State-wide protests on March 19 and 20 (Saturday and Sunday) to mount pressure on the State government to initiate effective steps to curb sale of illicit liquor and country arrack. “Involve the people in the demonstrations,” he told the leaders.
‘J brand liquor’
“Illicit liquor is resulting in instant death, while the ‘J’ brand cheap liquor is acting as a slow poison. The Chief Minister should explain why such cheap brands, which are not available anywhere in the country, are being sold in Andhra Pradesh alone. People need to know who is the manufacturer of this brand of liquor and at what rate it is being sold,” Mr. Naidu said.
Alleging that ₹120 to ₹150 was being collected for a bottle of liquor against its actual price of ₹60, Mr. Naidu said the YSRCP government was “looting ₹5,000 crore annually from the sale of ‘J’ brand liquor alone.”
Asking the party cadre to create awareness among people on the ill-effects of the ‘J’ brand liquor, Mr. Naidu said the poor were turning to illicit liquor as the price of ‘J’ brand liquor was prohibitively high. He also asked the cadre to involve the women who were badly affected by this social evil in the protest programmes.
‘VOA’s suicide’
In a statement released later, Mr. Naidu alleged that Garikapati Nagalakshmi, leader of the A.P. Village Organisation Assistants’ Association, had resorted to the extreme step unable to bear the harassment by a Mandal Revenue Officer and a local politician.
The fact that no action had been taken against the accused even after the she complained to the Superintendent of Police during the Spandana programme was reflective of the “total breakdown of the system and lack of safety for women in the State,” Mr. Naidu said.
