THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Beyond the contours of the High Court Division Bench verdict in the bar case, which upheld the UDF Government’s liquor policy on Tuesday,the political fallout of it is unlikely to match the net social impact. As such, it is going to be a litmus test for the government running its last year in office.
Even as Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president V M Sudheeran and others could claim a moral, legal or even a political victory over the verdict as it has consolidated their respective professed stand, drawing any sustained political mileage on it is only a remote possibility. The apparent unscientific approach with which the new policy has been touted is bound to have its pitfalls sooner or later. Conversely, the whole developments could not turn out to be a political selling point for the UDF and the government, or even any individual leader even when driving home the point of making the state dry, phase by phase.
The negatives which had been gnawing the government ever since the bar issue began snowballing are bound to intensify now politically. The battle lines are clearly drawn between the government and the liquor lobby who has the backing of parties across the political spectrum. The liquor lobby has the full backing of the LDF. Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan has issued warning signals and CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan remains guarded in his reaction while taking the court verdict and the government moves with a pinch of salt.
“There are many complicated issues attendant to the latest developments,’’ admitted Excise Minister K Babu, reflecting the desperate mood in the UDF camp.
Back files of the bar controversy have enough material to put the blame on Sudheeran after he cashed in on an opportunity when Finance Minister K M Mani allegedly put his foot down on the renewal of licences as demanded by the Excise Department, which had ended up in many political twists and turns.
Later,it was oneupmanship by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who stole the show by mooting a total closure of all bars, except two dozen hotels in the five-star category, designed into a new policy and which has been ratified by the court now. The state is likely to be dotted with wine and beer parlours soon. But the business experience of many owners in the category of 418 substandard bars who have already burnt their fingers by opening beer and wine parlors are reportedly pulling back fellowmen in the 312 category. The shutters of 312 bars were sealed permanently on March 31. “Going by the stand of the HC itself, a new government can take a fresh decision,’’ a bar owner in Kochi told Express while asserting that the days of the UDF government are numbered.
When the A K Antony-led government banned arrack in the Nineties, the Left opposed it for various reasons. The much highlighted ban hailed by the Church and women didn’t benefit the UDF politically in the Assembly polls held shortly as the electorate favored the Left. Still, the LDF was not able to lift the arrack ban for various reasons. “But bar hotels have huge infrastructure and investments and, if left abandoned, it could pose issues manifold legally too and may force future governments to put a reverse gear,’’ said a key official in the Finance Ministry.
