Liquor production row: Kerala government slam Congress over spirit lobby claims

Kerala excise minister claimed that Harsha Sugars, which is engaged in transporting spirit from Bengaluru to Kerala, is linked to prominent Congress leaders in Karnataka.
Image used for representational purpose.
Image used for representational purpose.(File Photo)
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The face-off between government and opposition over granting permission to a private company to start liquor production took a new turn after the government and CPM trained their guns on former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and the Congress leadership.

Excise Minister M B Rajesh asked Ramesh Chennithala whether he had held a meeting with the representatives of spirit producing companies from other states before raising the allegations against the government.

The minister was speaking at a press conference held in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

If at all a discussion was held between him and the representatives of spirit-producing companies, Chennithala should reveal the topic of such a discussion, the minister said. CPM state secretary M V Govindan also alleged that the Congress has been raising the issue on behalf of the spirit lobby.

“It is to make the spirit lobby happy,” Govindan said.

The excise minister had claimed earlier that the company named ‘Harsha Sugars’ that is engaged in transporting spirit from Bengaluru to Kerala is linked to prominent Congress leaders in Karnataka. The CPM plans to counter the Congress criticism by highlighting the Harsha link of Congress leaders.

According to the minister, “The chairperson of Harsha Sugars, Lakshmi R R Hebberkar, is the Karnataka state president of the Mahila Congress and serves as the Karnataka Minister for Women and Child Development. The managing director, Channaraj Hattiholi, is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council. Additionally, company director Mrinal Hebbalkar is the Karnataka Youth Congress state vice-president.”

Government to follow all procedures

The government has decided to grant permission to Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd in stages. There will not be any haste in granting permission for the company. The government will take steps to remove doubts regarding the extraction of groundwater by the company. “Not a single drop of drinking water will be used by the company,” the minister clarified.

“The required amount of water will be provided to the company based on the decision taken by the former UDF government on January 31, 2015, to provide 10 MLD water to KINFRA and IIT. The company needs only 0.5 MLD water per day and this will be provided from the water provided to KINFRA. Apart from this, the company will harvest rainwater on five acres of land,” he said.

Irrigation Minister K Krishnan Kutty also clarified that groundwater would not be used by the company.

“We will explain this to the public. The issue was discussed in the cabinet in detail. When we raised our concern over exploitation of groundwater, the excise minister had clarified that the company would not be depending on it,” he said.

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