Differences of opinion between Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V.M. Sudheeran and the government over the liquor policy have been sorted out through discussions, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said.
Talking to presspersons after a Cabinet meeting here on Wednesday, Mr. Chandy said discussions at the KPCC-Government Coordination Committee meeting here on Tuesday had helped to clear the differences, and it was resolved to go ahead with cohesion.
Some differences of opinion were bound to exist and everything could not be cleared. Even while maintaining the differences, the party would function with unity. Compared to other Congress governments, Kerala had the distinction of registering remarkable progress in implementing the party’s prohibition agenda. All others were still limping, he said.
After former Chief Minister A.K. Antony’s decision to enforce a ban on arrack in the State, the present government had been moving towards prohibition consistently. Availability of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) had been restricted to five-star hotels. The 730 bar hotels which had been serving IMFL would hereafter serve only beer and wine. It was also decided to shut down 10 per cent of the outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation annually. Such steps will set the ground for prohibition, he said.
