TDP MLAs Protest Before Assembly Over Liquor Deaths

TDP legislators led by party National General Secretary Nara Lokesh took out a rally outside the Andhra Pradesh Assembly today in protest against the YSRCP government's "failure" to prevent the illicit liquor deaths in the state.

The TDP MLAs and MLCs held placards and raised slogans, calling the tragic hooch deaths "government murders".

Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's "betrayal" on prohibition was the main reason for the non-stop harmful cheap liquor deaths, they said.

Holding liquor bottles in their hands during their protest, the TDP lawmakers accused the Jagan regime of being responsible for 25 liquor deaths in the past few days.

It was condemnable that the ruling party leaders were trying to portray the Jangareddygudem arrack deaths as "natural deaths", they lamented.

The high rates of cheap liquor brands were the reason for the continuing hooch tragedies, they claimed, and said that Jagan Mohan Reddy should explain to the poor women of the state why he did not fulfill the prohibition promise he made to them at the time of elections. The Chief Minister had turned out to be an expert in making false promises, they alleged.

The TDP legislators also said that hundreds of people had died due to illicit liquor ever since the YSRCP had come to power three years ago, but that there was no response from the government ever. Claiming that this was just the inherent nature of the YSRCP, the opposition legislators recalled how the ruling YSRCP leaders had tried to portray Y S Vivekananda Reddy's murder too as a "natural death" during the 2019 election.

"The Chief Minister had no respect for the life of his own babai. How can he be expected to give any value to the lives of ordinary and poor people? Every time there is a hooch tragedy, the government only seems to prove its lack of any concern for the bereaved families," they said.

The TDP lawmakers said that in their greed for power, the YSRCP MLAs and ministers were making thousands of crores of illegal money in the liquor business so as to be able to win again in the next election. The goal of the ruling party leaders was to make easy money at the cost of the public treasury and then use that money to buy votes, they said. However, the Chief Minister and his ministers would pay a heavy penalty for their negligence, they claimed.

Those who took part in the protest were TDP state president K Acchannaidu; MLAs Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, Nimmala Ramanaidu, Adireddy Bhavani, Yeluri Sambasiva Rao and Velagapudi Ramakrishna; MLCs P Ashok Babu, Manthena Satyanarayana Raju and Deepak Reddy; and others.