The political heat surrounding the illicit liquor sale in Andhra Pradesh is not going to settle down any time soon. The ruling party and the opposition party have been targeting each other on the issue. The liquor issue got the required momentum when the Assembly sessions had started. As the sessions went by, the issue started to turn intense.
Holding the tempo of the fight, the opposition Telugu Desam Party had dared the government for a detailed discussion on the liquor and the liquor brands that are available in the state.
Former Minister and chief of Telugu Desam Party for the state of Andhra Pradesh Kinjarapu Atchannaidu who is leading the fight had challenged Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on the liquor issue. Stressing the election promise made by Jagan, Atchannaidu alleged that the Chief Minister had failed in fulfilling his promise.
YS Jagan promised a liquor ban after coming to power. But he did not do that. Didn’t he promise the same during the campaign? I am asking him why he failed to fulfill the promise after coming to power. Can’t he remember the promise he made, he said.
The ex-Cabinet Minister also dared that he would leave politics if YS Jagan Mohan Reddy says that he did not promise the liquor ban while campaigning for the party before the 2019 elections.
Hitting back at the government for saying that the liquor brands were approved by the TDP government and no new brands were allowed after 2019, party State president K. Atchannaidu asked why no protests happened during the previous government. What’s the need for the government to change the liquor policy and bring new brands, he asked.
Drawing a comparison between the liquor policies of both governments, Atchannaidu said that quality liquor is not available now and there is no option of choosing brands. The situation is that we have to buy liquor by telling the price of it, he said.
As a big development in the liquor controversy, the other day, CM Jagan alleged that the existing cheap liquor brands were allowed by the previous TDP government and the sin os on the party. After 2019, we have not permitted even a single brand. Despite this, the opposition party is attacking us, the Chief Minister said.
