Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V. M. Sudheeran has alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is delivering the promises given to bar owners by deciding to denotify certain stretches of State Highways, including bypass roads that pass through city Corporations or municipalities.
In his address at a Nilpu Samaram organised by the Madya Virudha Samithi of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Kerala Madhyavirudha Ekopana Samithi here on Friday, Mr. Sudheeran blamed the government for aiding the interests of bar owners while taking decisions that permitted the reopening of new bars and smooth functioning of the existing ones.
Mr. Sudheeran said the government had failed to provide rice and other essential items at reasonable rates to the public. But concerted efforts were on to help the bar owners, he alleged.
Terming the Supreme Court’s clarification that the liquor sale ban did not apply to municipal areas “as one that dilutes its earlier position” on the issue, Mr. Sudheeran said he would submit a complaint before the apex court against it. The latest clarification failed to ensure the essence of the Supreme Court’s nationwide ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres of State and National Highways with effect from April 1 this year, he said.
Remigiose Inchananiyil, chairman of the KCBC’s Madya Virudha Samithi, inaugurated the protest.
