Politicians rule liquor kingdom
Officials turn a blind eye to the thriving illegal liquor trade, which is dominated by leading politicians.
Vijayawada: The liquor business is dominated by politicians in the city. Several leaders of various political parties are partners in the liquor business for the last several decades.
The present incident has again proved involvement of political leaders. But the officials of the excise department remained spectators, even as liquor is being sold illegally in various ways in the city.
Several shops not only sell liquor but also provide place to enjoy the liquor at the same venue. Some of them offer door delivery system. The excise department has failed to conduct raids and tests despite several allegations on the thriving adulteration business in the city.
According to sources, political leaders are dominating liquor business in the name of their relatives. Former MLA Malladi Vishnu has been involved in the liquor business for a long time. He has several shops in city under various other names and this is an open secret in political circles. Once before, he dominated the liquor business in central constituency limits and also in various parts of Krishnalanka.
A former MLA, who belongs to YSRCP, also owned two liquor shops in city. A corporator’s husband, who is also a prominent person in the city, owns several liquor shops.
Similarly the relatives of an MP have liquor shops in and around Machilipatnam. A TD MLA belonging to east Krishna have liquor shops in the name of his relatives. In fact, the leaders have bagged these liquor shops on mutual understanding with the officials. The leaders of political parties are hand in glove with excise officials for continuing their illegal liquor operations.
However, YSRCP leader P. Goutam Reddy has now demanded the government to arrest the liquor shop owners for the recent death of five people. MLA Gadde Rammohan also demanded the government to take action against the former MLA for his illegal liquor sale operations. He said that many poor people lost their lives due to illegal liquor trade.
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