Suspense over liquor policy

Thiruvananthapuram: Governor P. Sathasivam’s address to Kerala Assembly on Friday has resulted in suspense over the new government’s liquor policy.

“My Government is of the view that restrictions on consumption of liquor have not yielded the desired positive impact. The increase in the use and availability of drugs in the State is disturbing. The opinion of people of all sections of the society will be taken into account before my Government formulates its policy stand,” the Governor said.

Some saw a hint of change in liquor policy in his statement while others saw a clear move to alter the policy in favour of bar owners. The Kerala Catholic Bishop Council demanded that the government should not go back on the current policy brought by the previous government. Some its supporters felt that the government would not reopen the bars closed by the previous government. So, a protest was not called for.

The (previous) United Democratic Front government had closed down about 730 bars in three star and four star hotels and declared a policy that only five star hotels would be permitted to run bars. In the place of bars, wine and beer parlours were freely sanctioned to them on the ground that phased prohibition was the policy of the government.

Rather than a committed move, the closure of the bars was a strategic decision taken by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy when Front constituents openly scouted for closure of bars while favouring bar owners behind the scene. The UDF had tried to cash in on the policy during the Assembly elections in May. However, that did not win much support for the UDF government in the elections as the voters could see through the game.  (At the same time, the leader of bar hotel owners Biju Ramesh, who contested in Thiruvananthapuram on AIADMK ticket, got just 5700 votes: the people were not voting for bars either.)

The UDF warned the electorate that the LDF, if came to power, would reverse the policy. At one point through the campaign, CPI (M) general secretary Seetharam Yechuri had to state that the closed bars would not be reopened.

However, now that the CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front has come to power in the State, speculation is rife that the government would reverse the policy at least partially by September.  Immediately after coming to power, the State secretary of the CPI (a constituent of the Front) Kanam Rajendran had stated that the government would review liquor policy. “The party is not for ban on liquor but abstinence from liquor,” he had said.

The on-going debate on liquor policy has found the BJP, which entered the Assembly for the first time with a sole member, in a dilemma. It has the Gujarat model before it and spoken about both phased prohibition and abstinence during the election campaign.  However, it ally Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, promoted by the Sree Narayana Dharama Paripalana Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, welcomes change in liquor policy. “If the government decides to change the liquor policy, that is a good thing,” Mr. Natesan said on Friday. The previous government’s policy, he added, was a failure. LDF government’s policy of promoting abstinence was practical.