Amaravati: MLAs and MLCs of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) took out a protest rally to the Assembly on Tuesday, demanding Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to take back his ‘baseless comments’ on the deaths of Jangareddygudem’s 26 illicit liquor victims.
The TDP legislators accused the YSR Congress Party’s government of hatching a conspiracy to make all the 26 illicit liquor fatalities look like ‘natural deaths’.
Led by TDP National General Secretary and MLC Nara Lokesh, the opposition legislators held placards and raised slogans against the Chief Minister’s ‘indifferent attitude’ towards the lives of common people. They advised the CM and his Ministers to come for a fair debate in the House instead of continuing their false campaigns without any concern for the victims’ families.
The TDP MLAs and MLCs asked why the ruling YSRCP was afraid to order a judicial enquiry into the arrack deaths. “The TDP would continue its agitation till the chief minister would give up his adamant attitude on holding a debate in the legislative bodies. The government should give Rs. 25 lakh each to all the 26 families of the Jangareddygudem illicit liquor tragedy,” Nara Lokesh said.
The Telugu Desam lawmakers expressed surprise over the manner in which the CM and his ministers were still continuing their ‘Goebells propaganda’ on every burning issue concerning the public. “They spread lies and tried to portray the YS Viveka murder as a natural death. Sakshi media presented the axe attack as a heart attack. Likewise, they were now trying to describe the 26 hooch deaths in Jangareddygudem as ‘natural deaths’,” they remarked.
The TDP legislators termed it condemnable that despite occupying a highly placed position, CM Jagan Mohan Reddy was spreading total lies. “How could the government say that there was no illicit liquor in Jangareddygudem? The families, who lost their breadwinners, were openly saying how illicit liquor sales became abundantly available everywhere in the past three years,” they said.
Those, who took part in the rally, were TDP MLCs P Ashok Babu, G Deepak Reddy, Mantena Satyanarayana Raju, MLAs Anagani Satya Prasad, Yeluri Sambasiva Rao, Velagapudi Ramakrishna and others.
The TDP lawmakers decried the CM and his ministers for trying to project that the Jangareddygudem victims died due to ill health and natural causes. “The victims’ wives were clearly saying that the deaths were caused only after they started drinking illicit liquor due to very high rates of cheap liquor brands. The ruling YSRCP could not be able to cover up the hooch deaths just like how it failed to cover up the Viveka murder,” they said.
The TDP legislators said the YSRCP local leaders were behind the making and sale of illicit liquor for easy money. “CM Jagan Reddy was not able to control them since he was not giving any share to them in the illegal income out of sand and mining frauds,” they added.
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