7 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Illegal mining: TDP, YSRCP trade accusations
NELLORE: Political tensions escalated in Nellore district following YSRCP President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's recent visit, with sharp exchanges between YSRCP and TDP leaders.
On Thursday (July 31), a media briefing near the YSRCP office in Kovur briefly turned tense after a verbal altercation broke out between women leaders of the two parties. The heated exchange drew media and public attention, prompting TDP leaders to condemn what they termed a growing culture of political intimidation. They said they would lodge a formal complaint with the police.
Amid the political unrest, Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy dismissed allegations of corruption in the quartz export business as baseless and politically motivated. He asserted that his companies, Fini Quartz and Lakshmi Quartz Sand Private Limited, exported only 19,608 tonnes between 2024 and 2025, a small fraction of the 1.6 lakh tonnes exported by 96 firms during the same period.
'The business was aimed at generating employment and developing local industry,' Vemireddy said, announcing his decision to exit the quartz sector due to defamation. He highlighted initiatives such as distributing electric tricycles to the differently-abled and the upcoming free eye care programme under 'VPR Nethra', adding that even CSR contributions were made from personal funds.
'If any local entrepreneur wants to take up quartz mining, I will extend full support,' he added.
