Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday compared former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy to the slain Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar. Presenting a white paper in the assembly, Naidu claimed that under Reddy’s administration, Andhra Pradesh had become the “Ganja capital” of India.
Criticizing Reddy for the alleged law-and-order issues during his tenure, the TDP leader stated that he had never witnessed such a situation in Andhra Pradesh in his extensive political career.
“There was only one person who can compare to what happened in Andhra, drug lord Pablo Escobar,” Naidu said, per India Today.
“Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord, he was a narco-terrorist. He turned politician and then started his cartel to sell drugs. He earned 30 billion Dollars at that time. He was arrested in 1976 and in 1980 he became the number one richest drug lord in the world. One can become richer by selling drugs as well. What was the aim of the former chief minister (YS Jagan)? Tata, Reliance, and the Ambanis have money. He wanted to become richer than them. Few have needs, few have greed and few have mania and these maniacs do these kinds of things,” he said, per ANI.
Naidu alleged that during Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule, Ganja was readily available in every village of the state.
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was killed by Colombian special forces in 1993.
Naidu further accused Jagan Mohan Reddy of targeting TDP leaders by filing cases against them.
Jagan Mohan Reddy’s protest:
On Wednesday, YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy criticized the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government, claiming that there had been lawlessness in Andhra Pradesh.
“We stand before this country in Delhi and we question whether democracy is prevalent or not in Andhra Pradesh, where the word democracy means equitable justice and today in the state. Equitable justice is denied and democracy stands limping,” the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister said.
“Within 45 days of the government coming into power, you have a situation where more than 30 people are murdered and assaults are taking place, which led to attempts of murder and several properties vandalized. Where you have 490 government properties, they have also been vandalized. Reddy told reporters, “There are over 1,000 cases involving assaults.”
Reddy protested against the state government at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where he was joined by Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav.