Tuesday’s Supreme Court verdict upholding the Kerala Government’s new liquor policy by which all bars in the State except those at Five-Star hotels will remain closed has effectively given the Congress-led UDF Government a dependable campaign tool for the Assembly poll to be held in May just when it was wriggling to get out of a pit of scams.
At the same time, bar owners of the State, whose last hopes of getting an opportunity to reopen their establishments have crumbled with the apex court verdict, issued veiled threats against the Government by indicating that evidences against Ministers and others in the infamous bar bribery scam could come out in the new situation.
Benoy Joseph, a representative of the Kerala Bar Hotels’ Association, said, “New situation has enhanced the possibility that the truth in the bar bribery scam may come out.” Association president D Rajkumar Unni demanded that State should reconsider reopening the bars. “This is not impossible as liquor policy is announced for one year,” Unni said.
The bar bribery scam has already led to the resignation of the senior-most minister in the UDF Government and another is currently under the scanner of the Vigilance over the charge of taking crores of Rupees as bribe from bar owners. Allegations of bribery have come up against two other senior Ministers also.
Still, the UDF seemed unfazed by the threat. “Bar owners should not try to scare the UDF. Evil campaigns are not going to work. It is quite natural that the bar owners will feel disappointed by the Supreme Court verdict,” said State Congress president VM Sudheeran.
As per the new liquor policy, which the High Court and the apex court have upheld, no bars except those at Five-Star hotels will function in the State and ten percent of the retail liquor outlets will be closed every year leading to the creation of a totally booze-free God’s Own Country in ten years.
The Congress and the UDF are sure to project this policy as one of the biggest achievements of the Government in the context of its legal victory, making it one of the major planks to fight the Assembly election.
The ruling front thinks that a campaign based on liquor ban can appeal in a big way to the women of the State. It also hopes that the policy will help it reinforce its ties with the mighty Catholic Church, which has been in the forefront of the anti-booze crusade in the State.
“However, past experiences do not support UDF hopes,” admitted a Congress leader. The first major step against liquor was taken in 1996 by then UDF chief minister AK Antony whose Government banned Arrack, the cheap, colourless liquor which was popular among the poor. Still, the Congress-led front lost the 1996 Assembly election.
Observers say if the bar owners have more evidences to bring up in the bar bribery scam, the policy and its approval by the courts may become counter-productive for the ruling front in the Assembly election. “The general feeling is that damning evidences do exist. What is to be seen is what the Government will do to keep them suppressed,” said a senior journalist.