Jagan, his wife Bharathi are kingpins in A.P. liquor scam, alleges AICC leader Manickam Tagore

All-India Congress Committee’s (AICC) in-charge for Andhra Pradesh Manickam Tagore has alleged that Rajampet MP P.V. Midhun Reddy is just a pawn, while the former Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party chief Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his wife Bharathi are the real masterminds of the liquor scam in Andhra Pradesh.

“Jagan Mohan Reddy’s liquor mafia devastated one crore poor families in Andhra Pradesh. Trusted liquor brands were replaced with low-grade and harmful ones, all for ₹3,200 crore in bribes,” he posted on X.

Mr. Tagore alleged that the scam was a well-planned operation wherein liquor brands were handpicked, distribution network was fixed, kickbacks were pre-negotiated, dummy firms were created, and the policy was re-written to legalise the loot. “YCP leaders coordinated with handpicked liquor suppliers and established brands were removed from the shelves making way for lesser-known brands owned by benamis and these brands were sold at inflated prices via state retail shops,” he said.

Mr. Tagore said the profit margin was artificially jacked up and commissions were routed through fake invoice and service contracts. Shell companies were floated in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam to launder the money, he added.

Pointing to the SIT findings which say that at least ₹3,200 crore was diverted between 2020 and 2024, Mr. Tagore alleged that a portion of this money was pumped into the 2024 election campaign and also distributed across constituencies as cash and liquor freebies and used for vote buying and booth management.

Mr. Tagore said one should not forget that this is not Mr. Jagan’s first scam. “He is already the prime accused in a ₹43,000 crore illegal assets case filed by the CBI. He was arrested in 2012 and he spent over 16 months in jail,” observed Mr. Tagore.