VIJAYAWADA: Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao has demanded Opposition Leader and YSRC chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to either accept his challenge to get expelled from the AP Legislative Assembly or stop making baseless allegations against him in connection with the AgriGold scam.
He stated that he had already clarified on the allegations levelled against him last year.
Addressing mediapersons here on Friday, Pulla Rao clarified that his wife Venkayamma had purchased 14 acres of land from three persons. One of the land owners was Uday Dinakaran who was a director of one of the companies under the AgriGold group.
"Dinakaran and his wife purchased the land using their personal income and the property is not part of AgriGold assets. Hence, there was no reason for me for not purchasing the land," the minister clarified.
The agriculture minister stated that Jagan was trying to take political advantage from the AgriGold issue, which has pushed the lives of around 19 lakh depositors and agents into darkness.
"As five States are involved in the case, the Andhra Pradesh government cannot take action on its own without court permission," he said.
Pulla Rao said that though the government understands the difficulties of the victims, it has no option but to sell only small properties of the company as per court orders.
"However, the State government took a humane initiative to sanction Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the families of the persons who have committed suicide due to the scam. We will also pursue the issue until justice is done to the victims," he said.