Blaming the ‘J-mafia’ for liquor-related deaths in the State, Telugu Desam Party Polit Bureau member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu has demanded that the government release a White Paper on the sale of liquor, the revenue earned, and the loans borrowed by the Excise Department in the last three years.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr. Ramakrishnudu alleged that illicit liquor and country arrack were flowing in the State. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had introduced his own cheap brands of liquor, which were claiming innocent lives, the TDP leader alleged.
There were several unanswered questions to which the government owed an explanation, he said. “People want to know what the YSRCP government has done in the last three years for implementing the promised total prohibition,” he said.
The government should make public the quantum of loans it had acquired through the Excise Department and the Beverages Corporation, and interest being paid thereof, the TDP leader demanded.
The government should also reveal what it had pledged to mobilise the loans, and how the money was spent. It should also come clear on the liquor brands being acquired and the specifications of the distilleries, he said. “Why is liquor being procured without calling for tenders?” he questioned.
When the government sensed the growing public resentment against the illicit liquor deaths, it tried to divert the attention of the people by raising the Pegasus issue without knowing the basic norms associated with the spyware, Mr. Ramakrishnudu said.
He said people were in no mood to believe Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy as he had shattered their hopes on key issues.
