Cong govt promoting liquor in state: HDK

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy has flayed the State government over what he called the Congress’ sixth guarantee namely ‘Madya (liquor) Bhagya’.

He was mocking the Congress by playing on the name of the scheme Anna Bhagya, which promises 10 kgs of rice for Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders.

The JD(S) leader argued that to boost its income, the State government was planning to set up liquor stores even in the rural hinterland and make alcohol available in regular stores so as to enable the state Excise Department to rake in more revenue.

The former chief minister went on to claim that the Congress was trying to turn Karnataka from “sarva janangada shantiya tota” (garden of peace for all communities), a vision of the state that Kannada poet Kuvempu envisioned, to “kudukara tota” (garden of drunks).

“To increase the revenue that they get from the Excise Department, they are trying to set up liquor stores in villages with a population of more than 3,000 and making liquor available in supermarkets as well,” Kumaraswamy said.