Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y S Sharmila has made serious allegations against the previous YSRCP government, claiming that the liquor scam was engineered to facilitate black money transactions by deliberately halting digital payments.Speaking to the media at Gannavaram airport on Thursday, Sharmila said, “In this digital era, it is shocking that liquor sales in Andhra Pradesh were conducted entirely in cash. This was done to hide massive corruption and evade taxes. This is not just a Rs 3,500 crore scam—it is an economic crime.”She alleged corruption at every stage, from manufacturing to retail, with branded liquor being phased out in favor of low-quality alternatives. “Why was branded liquor stopped? Why was substandard liquor promoted? This was all part of a deliberate conspiracy,” she asserted.Sharmila also raised public health concerns, stating that over five years, 30 lakh people developed kidney ailments and more than 30,000 died, possibly linked to poor-quality liquor.APCC chief called on chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and the SIT to conduct a thorough investigation into the scam and disclose the full extent of non-duty-paid liquor sales. “Former CM Jagan must explain why digital payments were banned in the liquor trade and clarify the motives behind it,” she demanded.She further questioned Jagan’s silence on other contentious issues, including the Rushikonda land digging and the controversial Viveka murder coverage.
