The pro-prohibition liquor policy introduced in Kerala by the previous Congress-led UDF Government in 2014 has triggered a fresh war within the poll-devastated front with Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress effectively calling for a review of the policy by stating that it had not brought the expected benefits for the front in the last Assembly election.
The statement of Chennithala, who is also the chairman of the UDF, has in effect become a shot in the arm for the CPI(M)-led lDF Government’s plan for abandoning or drastically revising the liquor policy implemented in the State in 2014-15 and 2015-16 by which all bars in the State were shut down allegedly leading to losses for the tourism sector.
The Opposition leader’s statement pointing out the need for correction in the UDF liquor policy has come at a time when the State Congress has launched an intense campaign against the efforts of the lDF Government to revise the policy on the basis of the theory that the UDF policy is impractical and counter-productive as it has led to a huge increase in drug abuse.
Opponents of Chennithala within the groupism-ridden State Congress were quick to launch an attack against him saying that the duty of the UDF’s Opposition leader was not to argue the case of the left while Ministers in the lDF Government welcomed Chennithala’s statement saying that he has understood the real problems in the UDF’s booze policy.
In an interview given to a Malayalam weekly, Chennithala said the UDF’s pro-Prohibition liquor policy had not brought the desired dividends to the Congress and UDF in the election. Supporters of the policy within the Congress and UDF had expected the policy to win the support of women and the Catholic Church in the May 16 Assembly polls (which the UDF lost miserably).
“The expectation was that the people would welcome the liquor policy wholeheartedly. Though it might have influenced many, it had not brought the desired benefits for the UDF,” Chennithala said. It was up to the Congress to discuss whether there should be corrections in its liquor policy and he would air his opinion in the party when such a discussion came up, he said. As per the liquor policy of the former UDF Government, all bars in the State except those at five-star hotels were to be closed and ten percent of the retail liquor outlets were to be shut down annually, leading to eradication of hard liquor by the year 2024. According to observers, the UDF’s liquor policy was a by-product of the group war in the Congress.
On Tuesday, State Congress president VM Sudheeran, a strong advocate of the UDF liquor policy rejected Chennithala’s statement on the alleged failure of the liquor policy as far as UDF was concerned. “I will talk to the Opposition leader. Any rethinking on the policy is irrelevant at this stage. The policy was accepted by all of us then,” he said.
Muslim league, second biggest UDF constituent which had welcomed the liquor policy wholeheartedly, said the Congress alone could not make any changes to the policy. “If there should be a change, discussions should be held in the front. We don’t think there is a situation that warrants any correction in the policy,” senior Muslim league leader KPA Majeed said.
Welcoming Chennithala’s stand on the issue, Tourism Minister AC Moideen said that the Opposition leader had spoken with understanding of the facts. “Everybody knows that Congress group war and UDF’s corruption were behind their liquor policy. My position is that the Government should take a stand after studying its impact on the tourism sector,” he said.
Moideen has been intensely lobbying for the past several weeks for a revision of the UDF’s liquor policy. According to him, the policy had created an impression outside Kerala that Prohibition was prevailing in India. He has already requested Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan to consider the matter seriously.
Ramakrishnan also welcomed Chennithala’s stand on the UDF’s liquor policy and asked him to explain who all shared his position. “The Congress and the UDF should say whether they have the same stand on the issue,” he said.