Has YS Jaganmohan Reddy begun counting the proverbial chicks even before they are hatched? His announcement that his party would implement total prohibition, if voted to power, and his demand that Chandrababu Naidu dispensation implement the liquor ban forthwith is undoubtedly amateurish.
Jagan has apparently, and quite unwittingly, demoed his uncanny knack of playing to the gallery, while fighting the odds. But, do really people want a liquor ban?
In the light of a hooch tragedy that claimed a few lives and caused ill-health to a few others, the State Government has come forth to institute an inquiry, and offer a liberal ex gratia of Rs. 5 lakh to the kin of each of the bereaved families. The Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu himself cancelled his tour and rushed to Vijayawada to meet the bereaved families and scored all the brownie points, exhausting every thing that is politically possible for the Opposition to cash in on the situation.
In doing so, Naidu has scaled many notches above all his critics and fans, cleverly though. But surely Naidu underestimated what demand Jagan could come up with. Well, now, the TDP’s shouting brigade will come in front of the TV cameras to pour scorn and this rhetoric in its robotic style is all too familiar for the Telugus. Jagan used the opportunity to meet the bereaved families and elicit their woes and also offer consolation, which he is best known for. He fretted and fumed saying that Chandrababu Naidu had made a volte face on every poll promise he had made, including the removal of belt shops. Very rightly said.
But, can he list out the politicos, legislators, MPs, and other leaders in his party who are into liquor trade and convince them to stay away from it, before embarking on a mission to demand the prohibition of liquor sale? His grouse that liquor shops are being open at 6 am is in itself an observation that raised many an eyebrow and some others giggle. Is the first time that it is happening like this? Of course, this question doesn’t absolve the government of its responsibility in ensuring that the law of the land prevails.
The State tried prohibition twice, but failed. And those staunch supporters of the parties that came up with the promise too backed out and relaxed their strings to let the parties in power open the floodgates for the sale of liquor. Vavilala Gopalakrishnaiah, a very renowned freedom fighter, too had once said on the floor of the Assembly – he was an independent MLA four times from Sathenapalli Assembly constituency – that it was the “question of expediency, not morals,” and that the prohibition be lifted forthwith to save the draining coffers.
Refer the 1954 debates of Andhra Assembly in which seasoned parliamentarians like Tarimela Nagireddy, PVG Raju and several others participated and expressed their genuine views on a delicate issue.
Excise revenue has always been one of the biggest grossers to the State exchequer.
In a cash-strapped State that is already bleeding with extravagant spending by Chandrababu Naidu administration on travel and making and unmaking of multiple offices, implementing total prohibition is well nigh impossible. Jagan knows this. But he played a card and it is a conjecture of time whether he played the right card or night and whether he ended up doing a wrong show or hit a jackpot.
There may be no denying of the fact that the connect these kind of emotion-stoking statements establish between the leader the people would remain strong for long, especially in the wake of an incident of the nature that occurred in Vijayawada. However, is this the way one should curry favour? Of course, these kind of political exploits are not exclusive either to Jagan or Chandrababu Naidu. It is all-pervasive.
But, the lofty promises of farm loan waiver, DWCRA loan waiver, job for each household or a Rs-2,000 unemployment allowance to every educated unemployed person, and many such promises on one side and grandiose plans to build a world-class Capital city, Amaravathi, on the other, it is impossible for anybody to enforce prohibition.
Jagan, assuming he is elected to power, too cannot push forth his own agenda, for the harness the TDP has prepared for successive governments is so stiff that they cannot have a free-wheeling power of making financial decisions easily.
Jagan left the door ajar in his haste too. This is the only silver lining in his speech, if at all. He felt it’s ok to let liquor be served in five-star hotels or middleclass bars. It may sound funny, but surely it is clever.
If politicos, irrespective of their political affiliations, in the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh talk about liquor ban, it reminds every one of an oft-repeated adage of devil quoting scriptures. But can political parties ask themselves whether they can do an election without free flow of liquor?
