Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced on Wednesday that a comprehensive investigation will be launched into the liquor policies implemented by the previous Jagan Mohan Reddy administration. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the former government of causing a staggering loss of ₹18,860 crore to the state’s treasury over the past five years due to alleged irregularities in the liquor trade.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu revealed that the state will soon commission a Crime Investigation Department (CID) probe into these irregularities. Additionally, he stated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) would be involved in the investigation, particularly concerning the cash-only transactions in the liquor trade, which avoided online payments. “Action will certainly be taken for causing such a huge loss to the exchequer,” Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu declared, while also calling for a detailed report from the Health Department on the health consequences of consuming spurious liquor.
The Chief Minister criticized the previous Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government’s policies, noting that well-known beer brands were phased out in favor of local brands that saw a significant rise in sales. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu highlighted that, contrary to the trend of accepting online payments even by small traders, the previous administration enforced a no-online-payment policy for liquor purchases. He alleged that individuals who requested receipts for their transactions were even detained.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu further accused the previous government of raising loans under the guise of liquor sales for periods of 10 to 25 years, labeling this as “the biggest fraud in the state’s history.” He claimed that between 2019 and 2024, 1.78 crore liters of illicitly distilled liquor were seized, which led to increased crime rates, adverse health effects, and severely impacted the economically disadvantaged due to inflated prices.
Expressing deep concern over the state’s economic condition, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that a detailed study on the issue is still pending. He criticized Jagan Mohan Reddy’s five-year tenure as a “case study on how governance should not be conducted.” Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu described Jagan Mohan Reddy’s actions as motivated by greed and mismanagement, stating, “The past five years were marked by blunders driven by frenzy and a desire to generate money.”
In his remarks, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also suggested that Jagan Mohan Reddy received 40 percent of the vote in recent elections not due to public support but because of a lack of awareness among the electorate.
