Hyderabad, August 09: Taking a strong exception to opposition Telugu Desam Party’s charge that Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had taken bribes from millers and traders to allow them to jack up prices of essential commodities in the State, the AP Congress Committee today asked Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu whether he was ready to make the same charge against the Chief Ministers of other States where prices were higher than that of AP.
Yesterday, TDP members staged a dharna on price rise and organised a `mock market’ at Gun Park.
Later, in a debate on the issue in the Assembly, TDP senior member M Narsimhulu charged that the Chief Minister and Finance Minister K Rosaiah had collected bribes from traders and millers at the time of elections and hence were not acting against them now even though they were increasing prices.
Refuting the allegations, APCC spokesperson N Thulasi Reddy claimed at a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan today that prices of 90 percent of essential commodities were lower in AP compared to other States. The Rajasekhara Reddy government had take n various steps, including frequent raids on godowns to seize hoarded stocks and import of red gram to check price rise in the State. The TDP was simply trying to `politicise’ the issue, he remarked.
Referring to price hikes witnessed during the TDP regime earlier, the APCC spokesperson asked, “Did you (Naidu) take bribes from traders and permit them to hike prices in the open market during the TDP rule?”
–Agencies–