Narcotics queer political pitch in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: Political turf in Andhra Pradesh is getting queered with the ruling party becoming defender of the state agencies and the Opposition mounting scathing attacks on the government over its alleged failures.

Though the general law and order situation is attracting such heated exchanges, the state police too are inevitably getting dragged into the controversies by issuing statements warning the Opposition against dragging the department into the political crossfire. Recent times have seen any number of such cases in which the main Opposition, the TDP, targetting the police too.

The department too is issuing strong rebuttals asking the opposition politicians to refrain from issuing such statements or throw mud against it. The AP police have also warned the TDP leaders of legal recourse against their anti-police observations.

Of late, narcotics have figured in the verbal exchanges between the TDP and the ruling YSRCP. The AP police has made this a triangular contest by chipping in with its observations.

The Gujarat narcotics bust at the Adani port involving cocaine had its ramifications in AP with a local address figuring in the murky issue triggering a political slugfest immediately.

In between the seizure of ganja (in various forms) also got mentioned in the verbal duel. AP has been witnessing a spurt in ganja smuggling from the north coastal districts, particularly Visakhapatnam. The Hans India has recently carried reports of the increased ganja cultivation to the extent of 15,000 acre and more in Visakhapatnam and border areas of the state. The state police and other agencies have achieved limited success in the fight against ganja smuggling.

An attack on a Telangana police team the other day also triggered a political storm with the Opposition accusing the ruling party leaders of complicity much to the chagrin of the rivals. Accusations against individuals seem to be turning the scene more acerbic.

Top police officials of the region have gone on record stating that the fault was of the Telangana police team which did not coordinate with the local police in this particular instance. They also stated that police teams from Tamil Nadu and Kerala were also visiting the state to nab ganja smugglers.

On Tuesday, an attack on a TDP spokesperson's house and the TDP state office at Mangalagiri fanned the political fire further with the party alleging attacks on its offices by the ruling party cadres throughout the state for highlighting the smuggling issue.