Hyderabad:
It's a major hiccup for the Andhra Pradesh government. A report prepared by the state's Anti-Corruption Board allegedly includes a minister, M Venkataramana, among politicians who accepted bribes from the liquor lobby.
Mr Venkataramana, who is the Excise Minister, denies the charges. "I requested Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to order a thorough probe into these allegations. I am ready to quit my post within seconds if I am proved guilty. I have nothing to do with the person who made allegations that he paid kickbacks to me," he said.
A liquor trader named Nunna Venkata Ramana who operates in the Warangal and Khammam districts allegedly told anti-graft officials that he paid the minister 10 lakhs at his residence in Hyderabad as "protection money." Politicians from other parties have been named as well by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, based on its investigations. Its officials have been raiding liquor syndicates for a series of legal violations. They say they've uncorked a close arrangement between bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen.
Alcohol is sold at prices higher than the Maximum Retail Price listed on bottles; wine shops are allowed to stay open well past what the law permits; and the liquor lobby collects protection money from them which is then passed on to politicians and bureaucrats.