CM to hold all-party meeting on liquor syndicate

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday assured the all-party delegation that he would convene an all-party meeting to discuss the liquor syndicate issue in the State.

The Chief Minister gave this assurance when a delegation comprising leaders of the Telugu Desam Party, Communist Party of India and Lok Satta met him at Camp Office seeking cancellation of transfer orders of Anti Corruption Bureau Additional Director Srinivasa Reddy to Customs Security. 

The delegation appealed the Chief Minister to suspend his transfer orders till April 16 to facilitate submission of ACB's interim report on liquor syndicate issue to the court.

Later briefing the media about the meeting, TDP leader Motkupalli Narasimhulu accused the government of transferring Srinivasa Reddy to water down the ACB report against Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana. The delegation alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and in-charge of State affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad have been making deliberate attempts to shield Botsa Satyanarayana from the liquor syndicate issue. However, the Chief Minister rubbished their allegations and said that ACB has several efficient officials to continue the probe into the liquor syndicate issue.

Later, in protest against Chief Minister’s attitude, the TDP leaders staged a dharna in front his Camp Office. 

The delegation also demanded the Chief Minister to order probe into land allotments in the State following the revelations made in the CAG report. The all-party leaders demanded that the government recover the land allotted to industries and punish the officials who were responsible for misappropriations.  

They also appealed to Kiran Kumar Reddy to revoke the orders increasing power tariff on consumers as it would put additional burden on them. Communist Party of India state secretary K Narayana was also part of the delegation.