Copyright thehindu
Alleging that the Andhra Pradesh government had resorted to vindictive politics by arresting former Minister Jogi Ramesh, YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) State coordinator Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the arrest was made in a fabricated case. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Tadepalli, Guntur district, on Monday, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said the government was running on a “formula — arrest first, script later.” He alleged that the police were fabricating evidence, planting devices, forcing confessions, and sending opposition leaders to jail without trial. Officers who refused to cooperate were sidelined, while those who acted as political agents were rewarded, he said. He accused the government of running the State through fear, institutional abuse, and fabricated cases instead of upholding democratic values. Referring to the illicit liquor factory unearthed at Tamballapalle, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy alleged the involvement of a TDP candidate, claiming that the main culprits had been allowed to go scot-free while YSRCP leaders were being framed. He further said that over one lakh belt shops were operating with impunity and fake liquor factories were functioning like soda units. “The government even introduced QR codes, indirectly admitting the fake liquor menace, yet it ignores belt shops and illegal permit rooms. This is State-protected organised crime,” he said. “If this is the State’s situation after two years, imagine the next three. It is our collective duty to expose and halt this slide before it becomes irreversible,” he added, expressing confidence that truth would prevail in cases such as that of Jogi Ramesh.
