Even as a competition is on in the public among the leaders of Kerala’s Congress-led ruling UDF, for the credit of the liquor ban announced last week, a blame game has started within the Government over who all are responsible for the “hasty” decision for prohibition without taking into account the aspect of “practicality” and without holding proper discussions within the front.
A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday witnessed a virtual war with several Ministers protesting against the decision to implement phase-by-phase liquor ban and two Ministers entering into an open confrontation. Despite all the bitterness, the Cabinet ratified the recent Government order on the new liquor policy which envisaged creation of a liquor-free Kerala by 2023.
Complaining that the new liquor policy would entail a loss of `7,500 crore for the Exchequer, Finance Minister KM Mani, chairman of the Kerala Congress (M), third biggest UDF partner, took a dig at the camp of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy by saying he should not be termed as the Finance Minister who led the State’s economy into a trap.
Mani said that he had no particular role in the liquor policy but it was a collective decision, adding that the ban would bring in a burden which no finance Minister could bear along with the loss of 40,000 jobs in the liquor sector. Congress’s Excise Minister K Babu, a staunch Chandy-loyalist, accused Mani of taking different positions inside and outside the Government.
Babu said Mani used to call him over the phone to recommend the reopening of the 418 bars closed onApril 1 even when he was advocating liquor ban in the public, according to sources. However, he later denied reports in this regard.
Ministers of the Muslim league, second biggest party in the UDF, criticised the haste shown by the Chief Minister and the Congress in announcing the liquor policy though they said their party supported Prohibition. The Congress and the Chief Minister were also criticized for not examining the ground situation in states like Gujarat where liquor had already been banned.
The Government is yet to take a decision on whether or not to allow the 121 beer and wine parlours in the State to continue operation and Chief Minister Chandy said this issue had not yet come before the ruling UDF which had taken the decision to ban the hard liquors. Chandy said discussions regarding the beer and wine parlours were yet to take place.
The State Chief Secretary who took part in the Cabinet meeting said wine and beer should not be banned in haste because it would negatively affect the tourism sector, vitiate the general social situation and might have serious consequences. He said the tourism industry, making a revenue of `24,000 crore a year, would suffer huge losses if all liquors were banned.
Sources said that there were still sharp differences among the Ministers and in the ruling UDF over the decision for total liquor ban though everyone was supporting it in the open. Most protests were being heard with regard to the decision to close down the 312 bars which would now be served notices for closure bySeptember 12.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that a large section in the Government and the ruling coalition, including several of those who had been enthusiastic about disallowing the substandard 418 bars which were closed on April 1 to reopen, is lobbying to delay the closure of the remaining 312 bars as far as possible.
“The Government’s initial decision was to close down these 312 bars by Tuesday or Wednesday but they have now been allowed to operate till the second week of September which means that they can make as much money as possible from the Onam festival sales. There is suspicion that this change of stand occurred due to pressures,” said a pro-prohibition Congress leader.
Also, many leaders are against keeping the State-run retail liquor outlets open when the bars, run exclusively by private parties, are being closed down. As per the Government’s new liquor policy, all the bars, except those in the five-star hotels, will be closed down soon and ten percent of the retail outlets would close each year leading to “total” liquor ban in ten year’s time.