VIJAYAWADA: Leader of Opposition YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday lashed out at the State government for allegedly diverting the AgriGold scam issue and clarified that his intention was to ensure that the company's assets were used to pay back the victims. He claimed that Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao, against whom he had made allegations with regard to AgriGold lands, was but a minor player and several ‘big fish’ were involved in the scam.
Speaking to the media here, Jagan alleged that the ruling TDP wants to protect the AgriGold management and properties by diverting attention from the issue and ridiculed the government's offer to order a judicial inquiry only if he agreed to its challenge that he would have to accept expulsion from the Assembly if he was proved wrong.
"We wanted to present the allegations made by the victims in the AP Legislative Assembly along with the evidence. Instead of clarifying on the allegations and ensuring justice to the victims numbering over 19 lakh, the ruling party wants to divert the issue. What would the AgriGold victims gain from my expulsion or the minister's from the Assembly? Will they get back their money?," he questioned.
Jagan also ridiculed the challenge stating that he was no investigative agency to probe and prove allegations against the minister. He was not inclined to accept the challenge of the TDP government as the latter had accepted none of his challenges. "If the Chief Minister is that keen on challenging us, he should first agree to ours. Let all the 21 MLAs poached from YSRC resign and contest elections. Let the party with the highest winning seats decide the fate of the losing party. Why does he shy away from proving that the voice in the telephonic conversation in the cash-for-vote scam in Telangana, is not his?" he asked.
Further, the YSRC chief alleged that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly was not inclined to allow him to speak for 20 minutes when he wanted to present the evidence in the Assembly. He stated that several properties belonging to AgriGold and its owners were allowed to be sold even after cases were registered against the company and them. "One of the directors Uday Dinakaran sold his land to Pulla Rao's wife Venkayamma on January 19, 2015, less than two weeks after cases were registered against the company across Andhra Pradesh. However, Pulla Rao himself is a minor player. We believe 'big fish' can be caught only through a CBI inquiry," he added and demanded that a CBI probe under judicial supervision must be ordered.