BELAGAVI: A question on imposing total prohibition on liquor in the state kicked off a slanging match between BJP members and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The House could not transact any business for half a day as BJP members staged a dharna protesting against Siddaramaiah’s statement that former Chief Mnister BS Yeddyurappa had opposed the decision to ban arrack in the state during the JD(S)-BJP government.
Replying to a question from CT Ravi of BJP who demanded imposition of prohibition in the state, Siddaramaiah ruled it out stating that it is impossible and impractical. It will be impractical to impose prohibtion in any one state and it will be effective only if it is implemented across the country, Siddaramaiah said and asked the BJP members to convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi to implement it across the country.
Prohibition, if implemented in Karnataka, will not stop people from consuming alcohol as it will be smuggled from other states. It will also mean huge loss of revenue. “So it not possible to implement prohibition,” Siddaramaiah declared. Excise minister R B Timmapur, who provided details of excise revenue, said, `18,050 crore target has been fixed for the current fiancial year and so far `11,000 crore has been collected.
Raising objection, C T Ravi and other BJP members asserted that Yeddyurappa showed the political will to ban arrack in the state and challenged Siddaramaiah to bring prohibition. Siddaramaiah hit back stating that arrack ban has had an adverse impact as poor people are now forced to spend more on liquor. The CM tried to blunt BJP’s attack stating that it was then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy who was instrumental in implementing the arrack ban while Yeddyurappa, as Deputy CM, had opposed the idea.
The BJP members were further angered when Siddaramaiah turned to Kumaraswamy and asked, “Is it not, Kumaraswamy?” While Kumaraswamy remained quiet, his party member Y S V Datta asserted that it was indeed Kumaraswamy who banned arrack in the state. This triggered strong protests from BJP.