Coalition govt. encouraging spurious liquor

Prodduturu, Oct 5: YSRCP has slammed the Chandrababu government for encouraging spurious liquor at the expense of human lives and said there is a deep nexus between TDP leaders and officials in the liquor syndicate.

Speaking to the media here on Sunday, former MLA and spokesman Rachamallu Siva Prasad Reddy said spurious liquor in the form of N brands is available round the clock across the State, and what came to light recently at a wayside daba in Mulakalacheruvu is just the tip of the iceberg. “This racket has been going on for 16 months right under the nose of excise officials, and dozens of people have already lost their lives. These are not just deaths; they are government-sponsored murders,” he charged.

He pointed out that the seized bottles and machinery reveal a capacity to manufacture nearly Rs. 2–3 crore worth of fake liquor every day, amounting to over Rs. 100 crore a month and Rs. 1,500 crore in the past 16 months. “The government must explain who financed this massive factory, where the raw materials came from, and which liquor shops this spurious stock was supplied to,” he demanded. Instead, migrant workers were falsely implicated while the real masterminds, TDP leaders, were shielded.

Rachamallu said excise officials had not conducted even a single meaningful inspection of the 3,500 licensed liquor shops in the last 16 months. “There are 75,000 to 1 lakh belt shops across the State. Liquor flows like water in every street, while officials and police collect mamools. Every month, each shop pays at least Rs. 1 lakh to excise and police officers, who in turn pass it on to Chandrababu’s family. Chinna Babu gets his share from retail shops, and Pedda Babu collects 3–4% commission directly from distilleries. This is the scale of organized loot,” he revealed.

He said the human cost was devastating, consumers were suffering liver damage, insanity, and premature deaths, leaving families ruined and women widowed. “People believe they are drinking liquor, but in reality they are drinking poison that destroys their lives,” he said, warning that lakhs could die in the next five years if this menace continues unchecked.

Drawing sharp contrasts, Rachamallu recalled that under YS Jagan’s government, liquor was sold transparently only through government shops, at fixed hours, with no belt shops, no adulteration, and no spurious brands. “Could anyone say government shops under Jagan sold spurious liquor? Never. But under Chandrababu, spurious liquor flows like a flood while the guilty are protected and the innocent are jailed,” he said.

He also questioned why, when files were burnt in Thamballapalle, DIGs and IGs were airlifted by helicopters, but in the case of Mulakalacheruvu’s massive fake liquor factory, no such urgency was shown. “Because the culprits are TDP leaders, the system is silent. Even Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated with liquor and meat sales like a festival in Prodduturu. This is the shameful state of affairs,” he said.

Pawan Kalyan, with all his bravado, is silent as he is content with the package; Chandrababu, Lokesh, and leaders down the ladder are getting their cuts, he said.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has regulated liquor sales by taking it into public sector, while Chandrababu has privatized it for his people to mint money at the cost of public health.

He demanded that the government disclose the names of the real masterminds, reveal the financial trail of the Rs. 1,500 crore racket, and ensure accountability. “Without the support of TDP leaders and complicit excise officials, such a massive operation could never have run for 16 months. The coalition government has blood on its hands,” he declared.