Former Chief Whip Gadikota Srikanth Reddy criticized the state government’s new liquor policy for lacking transparency and enabling TDP leaders to exploit the liquor trade through intimidation to secure commissions.
Speaking to the media at the party central office, Srikanth Reddy warned that the policy could lead to an overflow of liquor in every village and household, with the government itself encouraging the proliferation of belt shops. He said the TDP coalition leaders have been introducing a culture of lawlessness in the liquor trade to extract 15% commissions.
Srikanth Reddy questioned the lack of transparency in TDP coalition regime, noting that a Kerala brand of liquor is sold for Rs 90 in Karnataka but costs Rs 99 in Andhra Pradesh. He also recalled that the previous YSRCP government reduced wine shops by 33% and closed 43,000 belt shops. He criticized the current government for increasing liquor outlets and allowing belt shops to spread across the state.
He pointed out that while Jagan’s welfare schemes helped strengthen women’s financial foundations, the current government under Naidu is promoting alcohol in villages, which could harm families and undo these benefits just for revenue generation. He stated that this is not a suitable approach. He pointed out that no distilleries were approved during the previous administration, but several were approved by Chandrababu’s government from 2014 to 2019. He warned that people would eventually oppose Chandrababu’s plan to increase alcohol availability in the state.
