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BJP asks Kerala govt to give bar bribery case to central agencies
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday asked the CPM-led government to hand over the probe into allegations of soliciting of money from bar owners for a favourable liquor policy to central investigative agencies “for the truth to come out”
Kochi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday asked the CPM-led government to hand over the probe into allegations of soliciting of money from bar owners for a favourable liquor policy to central investigative agencies “for the truth to come out”.
BJP state chief K Surendran termed the current row as the ‘second bar bribery case’ and questioned the silence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan about it.
“The allegations (of corruption) are against the excise minister. Yet it’s the excise minister who directed the probe into the case based on which the crime branch is investigating. What’s the logic that the truth would come out in this case? So our demand is that the state government must hand over the case to central agencies for the truth to come out,” Surendran told reporters at a press conference.
The BJP leader asked whether consultations by the tourism department allegedly over possible revisions in the liquor policy were discussed at the cabinet meeting and if other constituents of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) concurred with it.
“This is not merely a case of collection of money. What is the government’s official decision on this? Did the cabinet know about the consultations held by the tourism and excise departments? Why were they held online? The chief minister is liable to clear the air about these questions and he must shed his silence on the matter,” he said.
The row started last week when a member of the Federation of Kerala Hotels Association (FKHA) was heard in a purported WhatsApp audio clip asking other members to pay ₹2.5 lakh each to achieve a favourable liquor policy from the government that included extended working hours of bars and abolition of dry days. Later, the FKHA said the person has been suspended for working against its interests and dismissed allegations that the money was being solicited to pay as bribes. The organisation said it was a funding drive to construct a new office building.
Excise minister MB Rajesh, currently on a personal trip abroad, had earlier dismissed the allegations of corruption and maintained that the government has not held any consultations regarding this year’s liquor policy. He also gave a complaint to the police DGP asking for a probe into the case.
Tourism minister PA Muhammed Riyas said Monday that he didn’t know why he was being dragged into the case by the opposition. “There is a clear agenda behind dragging me into this when it’s a different department that’s concerned with the liquor policy. The tourism department director has made it very clear (that it was a routine meeting with all stakeholders). Not all meetings are approved by the minister,” he said.
