Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday drew a parallel between the tenure of YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Colombian drug lord Paolo Escobar while speaking on the drug menace in the state. This came after Reddy held a dharna in New Delhi to protest against political killings and violence in AP since the TDP led coalition government came into power.

Naidu was releasing a White Paper on law and order in the Assembly today when he made the remark in order to criticise the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure which was allegedly marked by lawlessness and vindictive attitude against other political parties.

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Naidu came out with a list of cases filed against various political parties in the past five years, topped by TDP and followed by Jana Sena. The current chief minister had 17 cases filed against him while Pawan Kalyan was booked for 7 during this time though they had no criminal record prior to 2019. When Naidu asked those who had cases filed against them during the YSRCP reign to stand up, almost all the MLAs from the Treasury Benches stood up, sending a ripple of laughter through the House.

Blaming the former chief minister for the lawlessness and spread of drugs, Naidu said, “I am the senior most politician in the state and yet I have never come across a scene like it was in Andhra when Jagan was in power. There was only one person with whom it can be compared to what happened in Andhra, that is drug lord Paolo Escobar.”

He then described Escobar to fellow MLAs as a narco terrorist who turned into a politician and started his cartel to sell drugs, eventually to become the largest drug lord in the world. Escobar’s violent moves including the murder of Colombian minister for justice and attack on the Supreme Court leading to the death of 11 judges, were also recounted.

Naidu said AP was transformed into a Ganja capital between 2019-24 and alleged it was freely available in every village while promising a crackdown. “One can become richer by selling drugs as well. What was the aim of the former chief minister? Tata, Reliance and Ambani have money but he aspired to become richer than them. Few have needs, few have greed and few have mania and these maniacs do these kinds of things.”

Naidu said the YSRCP terrorised people during the previous regime. He cited the murder of the driver of YSRCP MLC Ananta Satya Udaya Bhaskar who was killed by the MLC himself. The body was then brought to his residence where the MLC claimed he was killed in an accident. The Chief Minister also accused Reddy of harming temples during his tenure, reading out a list to validate his claims.