BJP demands monsoon session of Delhi assembly to discuss excise policy

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal should tell people why permission was given to open liquor vends in non-conforming areas

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Saturday demanded that the monsoon session of the assembly be called to discuss the excise policy and said that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal should tell people why permission was given to open liquor vends in non-conforming areas.

The BJP said that while the liquor sales have gone up in Delhi, the government’s revenue from it hasn’t. (File)

“The Kejriwal government allowed liquor vends to open in non-conforming areas, which is a clear violation of the Master Plan of Delhi-2021. The decision was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers on November 5 last year. The Delhi government has no powers to do so,” Bidhuri said.

Hitting out at Kejriwal, Bidhuri said that the CM had said that the new excise policy will boost the revenue by ₹10,000 crore. “While the liquor sales have gone up in the city, the government’s revenue from it hasn’t. Why so? We want the government to call the monsoon session to discuss the excise policy and all the scams in various departments such as DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation), water (Delhi Jal Board), ration (food supplies department) etc.”

On Friday, CBI conducted raids at Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s residence and other places in connection with alleged corruption in the Delhi government’s new excise policy.

Bidhuri said that the Delhi government allowed blacklisted firms to open vends, gave permission to manufacturers to test liquor quality in their own labs instead of government labs and increased the commission of distributors from 2% to 12%. “Why were these provisions made? And if the policy is so good, why did you withdraw it? Kejriwal must answer these questions,” said Bidhuri.

West Delhi member of Parliament (MP) Parvesh Sahib Singh said that the AAP should answer why there was a waiver of ₹144 crore on licence fee given to firms. “There was no lockdown. The policy was announced in November and by that time business in the city had returned to normal .”

Singh said that AAP leaders are unable to answer questions regarding the increase in commission to distributors from 2% to 12%. “No AAP leader is able to answer this question,” he said.

Training his guns at AAP spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, Singh said, “Is Amandeep Dhal (one of the persons named in the FIR) your friend or not? Bharadwaj introduced him to his party seniors. Dhal has a manufacturing firm and a retail firm. As per rules, manufacturers can’t get retail licence. But Dhal got the retail licence. Why was this done?”