Away from the national media glare, two key figures embroiled in the Delhi excise policy case— a four-time MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta Reddy – are busy campaigning for BJP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh.
Srinivasulu Reddy is expected to get the party ticket to seek re-election from Ongole while Raghava is one of the approvers based on whose statement the Enforcement Directorate has built its entire case against Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party.
The ED alleges that the father-son duo, who own Balaji Distilleries, are part of the so-called ‘South Group’, whose members received undue benefits under the Delhi excise policy in exchange for kickbacks paid to the AAP.
The former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha, who is now in Tihar jail, was alleged to have acted as a conduit for the kickbacks.
It was in September 2022 that Srinivasulu’s name first emerged in the case, as the ED searched offices, premises and properties owned by him in Nellore, New Delhi and Chennai.
He was, however, never made an accused in the case.
In February 2023, Raghava was arrested by the ED on money laundering charges.
In October 2023, special court judge M K Nagpal allowed Raghava to turn an approver in the case.
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has since been arrested, alleged that seven of Raghava’s statements were recorded, and six were not against him.
“Only one statement was against me. As soon as he made a statement against me, he was released,” Kejriwal alleged.
Raghava turned approver and was granted pardon in the ED case in October last year, and anticipatory bail in a CBI case in February this year.
He and Srinivasulu, an MP from Ongole, joined the TDP on February 28 this year – both were welcomed into the party by its chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
A former Congressman, Srinivasulu had quit the party ahead of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and joined the TDP. After a loss in the 2014 general elections, he joined the YSR Congress Party and won from Ongole in 2019. After five years with the YSRCP, Srinivasulu returned to the TDP fold late last month.
According to TDP sources, Srinivasulu initially planned to retire from politics, paving the way for son Raghava, who he hoped would get a ticket from the same Lok Sabha constituency that has been his stronghold.
However, the TDP has learnt to be more keen on giving Srinivasulu a ticket as the excise case shadow still looms over his son.
For the TDP, the family’s influence in Ongole presents an opportunity to make crucial inroads into the constituency. Apart from its political heft, the Magunta family owns Balaji Distilleries and two other companies and has been in the liquor business for over seven decades.
As soon as the father-son duo joined the TDP, Raghava started campaigning in the first week of March, hopeful of a ticket from the family stronghold.
He held door-to-door campaigns in assembly constituencies of Ongole, Darsi, Giddalur, Kanigiri and Kondapi, which fall under the Ongole Lok Sabha seat.
Follow us
