Kerala: Bars turn dry for parties

KOCHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: They are the lot who hogged the limelight for long while rocking the UDF government in a big way but are keeping a low now. The bar owners in Kerala who were once a powerful lobby and were one of the prime source of election funding are a disgruntled lot now and are not ready to believe the words of political parties, right, left and the centre.

“The Association  never thought of parting with funds for any political outfit,” Kerala Bar Hotels Association working president Biju Ramesh told Deccan Chronicle. “How can we help the political parties when we ourselves are in dire straits?”

Majority of the association members are bankrupt or on the verge of selling off their bar hotels for peanuts, he said. “We were able to part with few percentage of our total revenue when we used to get good business,” he said. “Maybe, the 27 five star hotels which are selling liquor would be able to fund elections.”

But M.D. Dhanesh, general secretary, KBHA, told DC that since the five star hotels don’t have an association, they might not fund elections. “Big groups like Taj and Le Meridien might be able to do so,” he said. “But the remaining group may not be in a position to fund the elections as they are trying for their very survival,” said Mr. Dhanesh, a Kochi- based bar owner.

According to one bar hotel owner now selling wine and beer in Ernakulam, each bar donated funds in the range of Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000 for each major candidate while those of smaller parties got Rs 10,000 each in the last Assembly elections. It went up to Rs 1 lakh during the Lok Sabha elections, he said. (Industry sources, however, put the figures several times over.)   

There were a total of 730 bars with full-fledged IMFL licence that time. Their number has now shot up to 800 now, but they can sell only beer and wine. “The UDF pocketed most of the funds though its leaders who made us to believe that the pressure by KPCC president V M Sudheeran against bars would be overcome after elections and the 418 bars closed before elections will be opened,” said the bar owner.

“What happened afterwards was that the 312-odd three-star and four-star bars too had to be closed after the elections on the orders of the Kerala High Court. Now we are crestfallen and are not in a position to fund anybody. We are not ready to trust anyone also. If the LDF is ready to revoke the UDF government's decision, let them revoke, then we will come forward to support them.”

The hotelier, who preferred to keep his identity secret, said that the associations of bar owners have also been weakened following the controversies.  “We are not ready to trust the associations also and give them money anymore,” he said. “A large number of beer and wine parlour owners too have kept off the splinter new beer and wine parlour owners association.”