After Swaraj Abhiyaan and the BJP accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of ‘promoting’ liquor shops in the city, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia — on the second day of the Delhi Assembly session — claimed that the number of licensed liquor shops has gone down during their regime.
Even as Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Vijender Gupta accused the government of peddling “misleading” figures on the number of liquor shops in the city to “deceive” the public, Mr. Sisodia said only six retail liquor vends have come up in the city.
“I fail to understand how six new retail shops have contributed towards doubling the revenue collection. A section is deliberately misleading and trying to create a wrong perception. It is almost like we have turned into Ponty Chadha, but no one is noticing how many Ponty Chadhas we have put out of business,” Mr. Sisodia said.
Mr. Gupta, who staged a walkout with his party MLA Jagdish Pradhan before Mr. Sisodia’s speech, read out reports and pointed out that the government was encouraging “microbreweries and nightlife”.
Under the new excise policy announced by the AAP dispensation, no new liquor store — except in malls — will be opened in Delhi in the current financial year.
It has also empowered the mohalla sabhas to decide on whether to shut down the existing ones.
“The mohalla sabhas have not yet been notified and the government says that these bodies have been empowered to take decisions in this regard. The government is misleading the people,” said the LoP.
In his defence, Mr. Sisodia said the policy on microbreweries was not new: “Microbreweries exist in abundance in Gurgaon where you have the government of ‘gaurakshaks’”.
Prohibition
Referring to the prohibition model in Bihar, Mr. Sisodia said the AAP government was not against bans, but underlined the need for a thorough study before resorting to any such move.
“We don’t want to run Delhi using the revenue earned from liquor. We are not against any ban, but it has to be across India. Right now our focus is on ensuring that the revenue earned is not siphoned like before,” the deputy CM said.
