HYDERABAD: What has Lokesh Naidu’s education got to do with the deeds of the liquor syndicate in Khammam district? During a nine-hour cuss war on the liquor bribes controversy in the Assembly on Friday, the state’s citizenry got to learn about the exploits of Chandrababu Naidu’s son at Stanford, the bric-a-brac found in Kanna Lakshminarayana’s son’s baggage at Shamshabad airport, and the ethical dilemmas overcome by Mopidevi Venkataramana’s son in deciding not to sell Black Eagle beer -- apart from a lot of dope on the ways of the booze mafia in the state.At the end of the marathon debate marked by vicious innuendo between chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and TDP boss Chandrababu Naidu, the government did not yield an inch on any of the opposition’s three demands: sacking of excise minister Mopidevi, who has been named as a recipient of booze bribes in Khammam district, tabling of the ACB’s findings on the liquor mafia, and a judicial inquiry into the same.Chief minister steadfastly refused to throw Mopidevi to the wolves, asserting that the minister was not an accused in any case, but had only been named as a bribe recipient by a man who is an accused.Kiran Kumar went to the extent of saying he would not attach too much importance to the statement of a suspect, and would consider sacking Mopidevi if more concrete evidence emerged.In the face of a relentless barrage from Naidu, the chief minister also bailed out another minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and said the latter’s son Chinna was not involved in the liquor trade.The Chinna mentioned in an ACB report was a flexi artist and not the son of Dharmana.For his part, agriculture minister Lakshminarayana presented a statement on the liquor trade but refused to table the ACB report since the case is being heard in court.While these were the concrete outcomes of the debate, much sound and fury was witnessed with Kiran Kumar and his team adamantly attacking Naidu’s indignation as holier-thanthou as fraudulent.Turning the fire back on Naidu, the chief minister said, “Chandrababu Naidu himself was an accused in an ACB case when he was chief minister.Did he resign then?” This was a reference to a High Court reprieve from an ACB liquor case won by Naidu when he was chief minister.Cut to the quick, Naidu hit back that the High Court had clearly stated that there had been a malafide intention behind that case against him then.“If such is your attitude, you will land in jail for contempt of court,” the angry TDP leader told chief minister.It was the second day of mutual insults between the chief minister and the leader of the opposition. Express presents a selection from a bad-tempered debate.
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