It may hit you like a hard drink, but the Election Commission in Punjab has left the guzzlers with a little reason to cheer around the Election Day, or rather say cheers.
Gulp this: The Government has made it clear that you can raise a toast to the democratic process of electing parliamentarians by casting your vote, but its bottoms down to drinks even in private parties.As the State is going to polls on April 30, the Election Commission has ordered the liquor vends, and the adjoining taverns, closed down for 48 hours — from 7 pm on April 28 to 7 pm on April 30.
“Forty-eight hours would be the dry hence, liquor could not be served even in private functions,” clarified the State Chief Electoral Officer VK Singh.On a low for the bacchus-lovers, Singh added that the liquor vends in three-kilometres of area adjoining States like Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan would also remain shut for those 48 hours.
A day ahead, the CEO has come out with a clarification that the private parties, falling on April 28 and 29 would not be banned, rather intensive checking to prevent illegal distribution of liquor to bribe the voters would be held.It stated that people can serve the liquor by getting “appropriate permit from the state excise department”, but a day after, it took a U-turn by banning the use of liquor in private functions.
The Commission, on Wednesday, has advised the common people, having their functions on these two dates, either to avoid these dates, and if not possible, they should intimate the details of function in advance to their Assistant Returning Officers to avoid unnecessary complaints and investigation.
The decision has been taken to check any flow of liquor or money to woo voters. For the same, the Commission has also chalked out a comprehensive plan. “A comprehensive plan has been chalked out to keep maximum alertness during 48 hours before polls to check any flow of liquor or money to woo voters,” said Singh.He said that flying squads and static surveillance teams have been asked to be more proactive with clear instructions to district police chiefs to ensure availability of sufficient force during that 48-hour period, which would be observed as dry days.