YSRCP MP Maddila Gurumoorthy slams liquor scam allegations

Tadepalli (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 17 (ANI): YSR Congress Party MP Maddila Gurumoorthy on Saturday denounced what he described as "false and politically driven" liquor scam allegations.
In a sharply worded statement, the MP accused the TDP Government in Andhra of orchestrating a campaign of vendetta to target former YSRCP officials and damage the image of opposition leaders through what it called "fabricated cases, coerced confessions, and media manipulation."
Gurumoorthy said that the present government was misusing mechanisms like the "Red Book Constitution" to launch investigations against past functionaries while ignoring an alleged liquor scam that took place during Naidu's previous tenure as Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019. Citing CID and ACB documents from that period, the YSRCP MP said an FIR had named Naidu as Accused No. 3, with his then Excise Minister Kollu Ravindra and the Excise Commissioner listed as primary accused.
"Despite a court-authorised probe, no action has been taken since Chandrababu returned to power. The case has simply been buried," he said.
Gurumoorthy alleged that major amendments to the 2012 Excise Policy during the previous TDP regime benefited distilleries linked to party leaders--including SPY Agro, Visakha Distillery, and PMK Distillery--allowing them to evade taxes. He said these changes led to an estimated loss of Rs. 1,300 crore annually to the state exchequer. He also cited documents that showed recommendations for increasing privilege fees were reversed, with official correspondence indicating approval from Naidu's office.
The YSRCP further accused the current government of "coercing" statements from former officials like Vasudeva Reddy, ex-Managing Director of the Beverages Corporation, despite his anticipatory bail in four cases. "Employees at lower levels were also detained and pressured into false testimonies," Gurumoorthy alleged.
Defending procurement practices under the YSRCP regime, the party maintained that all transactions were routed through bank channels and involved suppliers empanelled during Chandrababu's earlier term. "No Excise Department liquor files ever reached the Chief Minister's Office during YSRCP's rule," the MP said.
As per the statement, he also hit out at what he called the "hypocrisy" of the current government, pointing to unfulfilled promises to provide cheaper liquor before the 2024 elections. "Instead of reducing prices, they were increased. Tender processes were manipulated and commissions were extracted, while belt shops mushroomed across the state," he said.
The MP claimed that over 80 percent of liquor sales today involve low-cost brands aggressively promoted by the current regime. He also questioned the focus on manual ordering systems, noting that even digital records from the previous regime showed concentration of orders among a few distilleries--allegedly favoring TDP-linked firms.
"Rather than addressing the documented Rs. 1,300 crore revenue loss due to the abolition of privilege fees during Naidu's tenure, the current government is fabricating new cases to malign opponents," Gurumoorthy concluded, calling the current probe a diversionary tactic to settle political scores. (ANI)