YSRCP chief Jagan says ‘mafia era’ going on in Andhra Pradesh

Alleges that "taxes" are being paid to MLAs and CM Naidu for doing business or mining in the State

Amaravati: Hitting out at the ruling TDP-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy alleged that it is the “mafia era” that is going on in the State.

He also claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not give a clean chit to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371-crore Skill Development Corporation Scam case. Addressing the media, the YSRCP chief alleged that “taxes” are being paid to MLAs and CM Naidu for doing business or mining in the State.

---

Unlike his previous government where DBT (direct benefit transfer) was there, only DPT “dochuko (loot), panchuko (share) and tinuko (eat)” is visible in the State now, he said.

“There is such an inefficient government in the State that they are not able to introduce a full fledged Budget in the Assembly, fearing that people will demand the super six promises made (by TDP) during the polls,” the YSRCP chief said. He further said there would not be any government that is running on a ‘Vote on Account’ Budget for so many months in the country. He accused Naidu of using the media to obscure facts.

Ridiculing the TDP-led NDA government’s ‘free sand’ policy, Reddy alleged that the price of sand has actually skyrocketed by two to three times when compared to the YSRCP regime. He alleged that the NDA government had looted half of the 80 lakh tonnes of sand reserves stored by YSRCP government stockyards for monsoon use.

Reddy also claimed that Naidu cancelled government liquor shops under the new liquor policy and handed them over to his ‘mafia’… The opposition leader claimed that the Enforcement Directorate did not give a clean chit to Chandrababu Naidu in the Rs 371-crore Skill Development Corporation Scam case.

Displaying the ED’s recent press release stating that it has attached Rs 23-crore worth of fresh assets pertaining to the case under anti-money laundering law, which also saw the arrest of the then opposition leader Naidu in 2023, Reddy said a simple reading of the press release does not indicate giving any clean chit to the former.

The money laundering investigation stems from an Andhra Pradesh CID FIR filed against a company named Designtech Systems Private Limited (DTSPL) and others for “cheating” the Andhra Pradesh government by “diverting” and “siphoning off” funds invested by the state government in the Siemens project for other purposes.

On September 9 last year, the CID sleuths arrested Naidu for his alleged role in the Skill Development Corporation scam case during his third stint (2014-2019) as the CM of the southern state. Later, he received an interim bail on October 31, 2023, which was eventually made absolute.