Opposition alleges Kerala Ministers "lied" about liquor policy, demands probe

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The opposition Congress and the BJP on Sunday castigated the Left government in Kerala for its liquor policy, accusing Excise Minister M B Rajesh and Tourism Minister P A Mohammed Riyas of "lying" to the public by claiming that no discussion had taken place regarding the scrapping of the "dry day" norm.

While the Congress questioned the silence of Pinarayi Vijayan on the issue and sought to know why a vigilance probe had not been ordered into the allegations, the saffron party reminded the CM that his friend and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues had to go to jail over a similar issue for changing the government policy.

The Congress urged the government to announce a judicial probe into the allegations and sack the Excise minister, while the BJP pressed for CM Vijayan to hand over the investigation to a central agency.

Addressing a press conference in Ernakulam, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan wondered why a vigilance probe has not been ordered into the allegations despite receiving a complaint.

Satheesan rejected the claims of state Tourism and Excise Ministers that no discussions were held with regard to the "dry day" norm.

Both the ministers were uttering "blatant lies," he alleged, and further said meetings were held at the government level and the bar owners had begun to collect money for a "favourable liquor policy" after that.

He also warned of intense agitations against the "bar scam."

The Congress leader sought to know why the Tourism Department had intervened in the liquor policy, overstepping the Excise Department and why it had shown "unnecessary haste" in the matter.

He also alleged that the complaint lodged by the Excise Minister with the DGP after the controversy erupted was to divert the attention from the issue of corruption.

"There have been discussions on the liquor policy for the past two months," Satheesan alleged.

He claimed that bar owners also participated in a meeting convened by the Tourism Department on May 21.

"I have the link of that Zoom meeting. There were discussions on the dry day and the extension of the opening hours of the bar during that meeting," he said.

Accusing the Tourism Department of unnecessarily interfering, the Congress leader asked why it had called the meeting of bar owners.

"The government's assurance is that the liquor policy will be changed after the withdrawal of the election code of conduct. Then the ministers lied that they had not given it a thought," the LoP alleged.

Senior BJP leader V Muraleedharan targeted the ruling CPI (M) over the row, saying both the Marxist party and the state government were making attempts to distance themselves from the issue by blaming on the bar owners.

Addressing reporters here, he said the BJP was not against political parties receiving donations from businessmen.

"But, accepting bribes in the name of donations to frame or change the policy of the government is against the interest of the people and the country."

When the issue came to light, the Excise Minister claimed that no deliberations had taken place regarding the policy change, Muraleedharan said.

However, documents had been found later proving that the officials in the excise and tourism departments held discussions in this regard, he said adding no such discussion would take place without the knowledge of the ministers.

The BJP leader further charged Excise Minister Rajesh with covering up the details of his ongoing foreign trip to five nations.

Citing information provided by the External Affairs ministry, Muraleedharan said the Excise Minister had applied for the trip only on May 22, and sought to know his source of income for the 10-day foreign trip with his family.

The criticism came after reports that the state government was considering scrapping the 'dry day' norm (which prohibits the sale of alcohol in the state on the first day of every calendar month), sparking a political storm in the state.

While the Congress-led UDF has accused the LDF government of taking bribes from bar owners to favour them, the Left claims it has not yet held any deliberations over its liquor policy.

The issue of withdrawal of the 'dry day' policy snowballed into a controversy after an audio clip purportedly of a bar association member allegedly asking other members to pay money for a 'favourable liquor policy', was aired on TV channels.

The opposition Congress-led UDF came out with allegations that the Left government sought Rs 20 crore from bar owners to make a policy favourable to them and demanded the resignation of Minister Rajesh.

Brushing aside the allegations and the opposition's demand, Rajesh said the state government has not yet held any deliberations regarding its liquor policy.