Make liquor prohibitively expensive, BJP tells government

Chennai: The hike in retail price of liquor has made the BJP to step up its demand for total prohibition in TN in a different way though. The party has appealed to the state government to make liquor inaccessible for the common man.

The state government could think in terms of effecting an increase in the prices so that liquor could not be purchased by the common man. “Such a measure could at least help to dissuade the poor and those having less access to financial resources from indulging in a drinking binge,” BJP state president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan told reporters here on Thursday.

She was reacting to the Tamil Nadu Cabinet which on Wednesday approved a proposal to increase the rates of various brands of liquor from Rs10 to Rs 25. This meager increase, she said was insufficient and needs to be revised exorbitantly. Meanwhile, TMC leader G.K. Vasan who took strong exception to the Cabinet’s decision, said this went against the AIADMK’s poll assurance of introducing total prohibition in the state.

“Though the AIADMK had promised to close down the Tasmac outlets in a phased manner, there seems to be a move to open new outlets in lieu of the shops that were closed earlier,” he said. Media reports indicated that through the present move to revise the prices of liquor, the government hopes to mop up a revenue of Rs 2,600 crore, he said and demanded concrete measures to implement total prohibition in a phased manner as promised earlier.