The Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has demanded a judicial inquiry into allegations of corruption in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s proposed move to liberalise Kerala’s liquor policy.
Speaking to mediapersons after a meeting of the front’s constituent parties, UDF convener M.M. Hassan also demanded the resignation of Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh and Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas.
Minister’s stance
Mr. Rajesh has maintained that the Opposition and a section of the media have been attempting to create a smokescreen despite the fact that not even the preliminary deliberations on the liquor policy has been initiated. He highlighted the government’s efforts to strictly enforce excise norms and collect turnover tax dues, which, he said, seemed to have ruffled some feathers, leading to such wild allegations. Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has initiated a preliminary inquiry into the allegations.
The controversy broke out after a voice note, purportedly of a district leader of the Federation of Kerala Hotel Association (FKHA), asking bar owners in his region to contribute about ₹2.5 lakh each to sway the government to liberalise the liquor policy leaked out of the association’s WhatsApp group.
The UDF has sought to draw a parallel with the allegations levelled by the LDF, then in the Opposition, against the ruling UDF related to the bar bribery scandal, which led to the resignation of two Ministers.
Licences to 130 bars
“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, then the CPI(M) State secretary, had accused K.M. Mani of giving bar licences to hotels. The LDF government has over the past seven years accorded licences to over 130 bars. The Tourism Minister has now demanded the dropping of dry days, not for the benefit of the tourism sector, but with an eye on the bribes. These allegations would not have come out now if not for the infighting in the bar owners’ association,” said Mr. Hassan.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran said that a ‘Delhi model’ bar bribery is taking place in Kerala. Mr. Vijayan will face a plight similar to that of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It has now become clear that bar owners are dictating the State’s liquor policy, he alleged.
