THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF has shot itself in the foot. Ramesh Chennithala embarassed his own party, the Congress, when he bad-mouthed Prohibition, a policy which was brought in by the coalition led by previous chief minister Oommen Chandy. It is widely regarded as a big reason why the Congress lost the state polls in May. The Left is happy.
The prevailing strife in the Congress was compounded by the fact that the ardent champion of the UDF’s liquor policy was its state president V M Sudheeran, who is Chennithala’s bete noire. Meanwhile, the cash-strapped Kerala government, headed by the CPI(M), is gingerly exploring if the policy can be reversed. After a controversial announcement of online sale of liquor, the Pinarayi Vijayan government rolled it back. But what puts the Left on a high is that Chennithala’s remarks reveal faultlines in both the Congress and the coalition. The former state home minister had told a Malayalam weekly that it was up to the party leadership to take a call on whether the policy needed to be reviewed.
He said, “Neither the Opposition UDF nor myself has a stand favouring the reopening of bars. If the Pinarayi Government is planning to convert the state into a liquor den, it will not be allowed under any circumstances.” The Congress had felt insecure when one UDF vote went to P Sreeramakrishnan, who was voted in as the Speaker. Meawnhile, the Congress’s unreliable Indian Union Muslim League is making threatening noises of abandonment.
Advantage Left
“The UDF and Congress should clarify their stance on the opinion of opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala over UDF’s liquor policy. If Chennithala is stem on his stance, he should openly accept LDF’s liquor policy.”
TP Ramakrishnan, Excise Minister
THE FIRST CASUALTY
Kerala Congress(M) supremo KM Mani could well be termed as the casualty of the UDF government’s liquor policy and the controversies that followed. The 83-year-old had to concede an unceremonious exit from the cabinet in November last following a High Court remark against him in the bar bribery scam. Some bar hotel owners had come out alleging that Mani had taken bribe from them for issuing licences. Though UDF leaders, including Chandy, dismissed it as the allegations by a few disgruntled bar owners who suffered due to UDF’s liquor policy, the bar bribery scam brought out the rift within the UDF.
Liquor Should be Made Available in Tourist Destinations, Says Moideen
Thiruvananthapuram: Days after he recommended a relook of the current Excise Policy, Tourism Minister AC Moideen has demanded that liquor should be made available in tourist destinations taking into account the negative impact that the curbs on liquor availability has had on the state’s tourism sector. Speaking to reporters, Moideen said the curbs on liquor have given rise to the wrong perception among tourists that Kerala was a dry state. This had adversely affected the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events tourism sector which recorded a negative growth in the previous year. He said he would discuss with the CM the proposal of making liquor available at tourist spots.