The speed at which the UDF high- power committee arrived at the decision to clamp down on liquor sale in Kerala, despite the dominant section of the Congress speaking a different language till the other day, clearly shows that it was a victory of political craft over passionate positioning over a key social issue.
The winner of the day was clearly Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who reached the UDF panel meeting ready with all the decisions announced after the three-hour deliberation. But KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran can still take heart that he could force the hands of the government and the UDF leadership to come out with such a significant decision. And, now that the UDF has decided on the new excise policy framework, to be submitted before the Kerala High Court, Mr. Sudheeran can also feel gratified that he could bring about such a change of heart among those who were opposed to his views till the other day.
From available indications, the decision was in the making since late Wednesday. The first hint was available when KPCC vice president M.M. Hassan mooted the idea of total prohibition during his exchanges with the media here, but Mr. Sudheeran was quick to the game and went on record that it was heartening that the mainstream political leadership has veered round to accepting the cause of total prohibition.
What upset Mr. Chandy more than Mr. Sudheeran’s stand against restoring the licences of the 418 closed bars was what he and his supporters saw as a kind of double speak by coalition leaders. The last straw was the strong editorial in the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) organ against restoration of the bar licences and Finance Minister K.M. Mani’s statements on similar lines.
At the meeting, the Chief Minister was a patient listener and took everyone by surprise by jettisoning his earlier stand on the bar licence issue and coming out with the daring proposals that went beyond what Mr. Sudheeran has been saying all these days.