THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI favours abstinence from alcohol rather than a blanket ban, CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran has said.
“Prohibition has proved to be a failure in different parts of the country. We support A P Udayabhanu Commission’s recommendation to work for complete abstinence,” he said at the meet-the-press organised by the KUWJ here on Sunday.
Kanam refuted the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s (KCBC) allegation that he was trying to communalise the alocohol issue. Abstinence is an idea mooted by Udayabhanu who was a Gandhian, he said.
“I wonder why the KCBC did not respond to the lifting of alcohol ban in Mizoram, which has a significant Catholic population. Also, it is maintaining silence on the easy availability of alcohol in Goa, where 27 per cent of the population is Catholics,” he said. On the allegation of a secret agenda behind his support to abstinence, Kanam said: “A drug mafia is gaining roots in the state if recent seizures in large quantities are any evidence. I fear wether those vouching for prohibition has a secret agenda,” he said.
He said the seat sharing in the LDF for Assembly elections will be done amicably. On whether the CPI would seek more seats, Kanam said: “We had an assurance from the Front while we gave up the Aruvikkara seat to CPM. We will hold talks understanding the limitations on the issue,” he said.